TRUMP AGENDA: How Trump’s spending deal shakes up Capitol Hill
Leigh Ann Caldwell, on how Trump’s move to cut a deal with Democrats left members of his own party scratching their heads: “Trump spent much of the last 48 hours appealing to congressional leaders across the aisle, beginning with an agreement to Democratic demands to add two provisions into the disaster relief bill — short term extensions for government spending and the debt ceiling — that will now force Republicans to take more politically treacherous votes and gives Democrats the upper hand leading into end of year negotiations. In doing so, the president has bucked establishment Republicans in a way that isn't helpful to the party but could benefit his own political brand by putting together a bipartisan coalition on some issues that could help avoid the kinds of political fights that lead to a government shutdown.”
The Washington Post: “The developments confounded congressional Republicans and Democrats at the Capitol, where some long-standing political norms seemed to many to be shattered. The upheaval also raised new questions about how Trump plans to approach the looming debates over tax reform, immigration, government funding and the nation’s debt — and where congressional Republicans fit in.”
POLITICO: “The president has made clear he has little interest in leading the Republican Party — whether that means acting to defend its majorities or serving as its ideological ballast. He’s insulted the GOP’s previous presidential nominees and railed against lawmakers on whose reelection its congressional majorities depend. Trump tends to govern more by sentiment than by substance, and he likes Schumer and Pelosi more than House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who have stomached him but never done a good job disguising the fact that he makes them nauseous.”
“President Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security had planned nationwide raids to target 8,400 undocumented immigrants later this month, according to three law enforcement officials and an internal document that described the plan as "the largest operation of its kind in the history of ICE," an acronym for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” NBC’s Julia Ainsley and Andrew Blankenstein report. “But after NBC News reported the plans late Thursday, the agency issued a statement saying it had cancelled nationwide enforcement actions due to Hurricane Irma and the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey.”
Andrew Rafferty reports on Donald Trump Jr’s meeting with the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday.
Facebook, on Russian ad buys during the 2016 election: “In reviewing the ads buys, we have found approximately $100,000 in ad spending from June of 2015 to May of 2017 — associated with roughly 3,000 ads — that was connected to about 470 inauthentic accounts and Pages in violation of our policies. Our analysis suggests these accounts and Pages were affiliated with one another and likely operated out of Russia.”
House conservatives are again throwing around the idea of a leadership challenge to Paul Ryan.
Cardinal Dolan is not happy with Steve Bannon’s comments about immigrants and the Catholic Church.
OFF TO THE RACES: Hillary settles scores in new book
NBC’s Alex Seitz-Wald, on Hillary Clinton’s new book: “At the height of the scandal over her email server, Hillary Clinton was ‘tempted to make voodoo dolls of certain members of the press and Congress and stick them full of pins,’ she writes in a new memoir of her 2016 presidential campaign. ‘Mostly, I was furious at myself,’ she writes, adding: ‘It was a dumb mistake. But an even dumber 'scandal.'” That ‘yes, but’ tone defines Clinton’s ‘What Happened,’ a book obtained by NBC News through a source who had purchased it ahead of its official publication Tuesday… Clinton also has scores to settle with those whom she says kept her from the White House. Former FBI Director James Comey, Russian meddling and the media — she singles out several journalists by name — come in for a beating, while she also lays blame at the feet of Bernie Sanders, Green Party nominee Jill Stein, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, sexism and the electoral system itself.”
AL-GOV: It’s finally official: Kay Ivey is running.
CO-GOV: With the state’s lieutenant governor in the race, there are now five prominent Colorado Democrats running for the job.
PA-15: Charlie Dent won’t run for re-election.
The Philadelphia Inquirer: “Democrats, who had previously made no moves to challenge for his seat, quickly pounced, signaling that they intended to try to take control in a district where registered Democrats slightly outnumber Republicans — but where Trump won by eight percentage points.”
TX-SEN: The New York Times notes how Ted Cruz is recalibrating with Trump in the White House — and in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
VA-GOV: Gillespie is outspending Northam so far.