| | | | Why Congress might not be the answer for Dreamers | | President Donald Trump is expected to announce Tuesday that he will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, if Congress doesn't act to revise the program in the next six months.
Trump clearly sees this as a way of passing the buck on an issue with which he has acknowledged he struggles: Whether to throw almost 800,000 children brought to the United States illegally into legal limbo (or not).
By leaving a six-month window, Trump is telling Congress essentially: "You asked for it? You got it."
And, they did ask for it. "I believe that this is something that Congress has to fix," Speaker Paul Ryan told a local Wisconsin radio station of DACA last week.
The issue is that passage of any sort of consensus fixes or reforms to DACA -- which was begun by President Barack Obama in 2012 -- is far from a sure thing in Congress.
In the House in 2010, the DREAM Act, which would have done much of what Obama did two years later, passed -- but only thanks to the fact that Democrats, who were still in the majority at that point, cast 208 "yes" votes for it. Just eight Republicans crossed the aisle to support it -- only three of them are still in the House.
In the Senate, Democrats, who then held the majority, were five votes short of the 60 they needed to break a potential filibuster of the DREAM Act of 2010. Only three Republican senators voted for the measure and of those three only Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is still in the Senate.
Sure, that was seven years ago. But, if anything, the changes to Congress have made it less rather than more likely something resembling the DREAM Act could get passed.There are lots more Republicans in Congress now than there were then. And the man in the White House got there -- at least in part -- because of his hard-line anti-immigration stance.
Congress -- or, at least, Paul Ryan -- may want this job. It's just not clear they can do it.
-- Chris | | It's almost 2020 right? Not really -- but as The New York Times' Kenneth P. Vogel and Rachel Shorey reported Sunday a "long list of Top Democrats have 2020, and money, on their minds."
From the story: "...the packed fund-raising calendars, brisk political spending and trips to early primary states suggest that in fact a shadow campaign for the party's 2020 presidential nomination is already well underway. In interviews, more than three dozen leading Democratic donors, fundraisers and operatives agreed that it was the earliest start they had ever seen to the jockeying that typically precedes the official kickoff to the campaign for the party's presidential nomination. It is a reflection of the deep antipathy toward President Trump among Democrats, and the widespread belief that the right candidate could defeat him, but also of the likelihood that the contest for the nomination could be the longest, most crowded and most expensive in history."
Among the Dems mentioned in the story: California Sen. Kamala Harris, Former Vice President Joe Biden, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
But as NYT noted: "So far, only Rep. John Delaney of Maryland has said he will be a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president." | | | Saba saw Hamilton on Friday (FINALLY!) in Los Angeles. Take a break ... and listen to the entire soundtrack. | | | Photo credit: Screengrab/Twitter/The New Yorker | | | The New Yorker tweeted the cover of its new issue. On it: An illustration by New Yorker cartoonist Chris Ware depicting Hurricane Harvey. Ware, a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, shared his inspiration behind the cover (read that here). | | HARVEY HEROES (CONTINUED) | | Speaking of Hurricane Harvey ...
CNN's Betsy Klein writes:
As Texans begin to face the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, the Washington-based staff of Sen. Ted Cruz are in their boss' hometown, pitching in with recovery and rebuilding efforts.
Nine staffers from Cruz's D.C. Senate office arrived in Houston in the week after Harvey made landfall, some canceling Labor Day weekend plans, according to one of the staffers in town.
The group has been volunteering to help residents pull out flooring, insulation and drywall from flooded homes now that water has receded, an important and time-sensitive effort, as the heat and humidity in the region can lead to mold. Some of the homes have had power, many have not. Most of the homeowners the group has helped have been elderly. One grateful resident told the group she was not a Cruz supporter, but their efforts had changed her mind.
Cruz, who lives in Houston himself, has been especially visible, touring devastation and participating in many media interviews. He was on hand during both of President Donald Trump's visits.
"Communities all along the Texas coast are hurting. There's not one person in the greater Houston area who hasn't been touched by this historic flooding- whether directly, or indirectly through friends and family whose homes or businesses flooded," Cruz said in a statement. "The very least that we can do is offer a helping hand to those trying to recover and rebuild. Several members of my staff, in D.C. and Texas, took time this weekend to come help families in Houston. And we will continue to. We will recover and rebuild by working together. The generosity we have seen at every turn in the face of this disaster has been an overwhelming encouragement - I've never been prouder to be a Houstonian and a Texan."
Like most of the volunteer efforts in Texas and Louisiana, the efforts haven't been organized by any particular group. The staffers received some addresses from a church group, some from friends of friends. They have moved from home to home, sometimes crossing the street to help other neighbors in need. Most will stay through the long weekend, some longer. They have quite a bit of work to do when Congress returns from summer recess September 5. | | On Sunday, CNN's Kevin Liptak exclusively obtained a copy of the Inauguration Day letter former President Barack Obama left for President Donald Trump. In it, Obama dishes "a few reflections from the past eight years."
Here are four interesting lines:
1. On helping others rise: "It's up to us to do everything we can (to) build more ladders of success for every child and family that's willing to work hard."
2. On relationships with other countries: "'It's up to us, through action and example, to sustain the international order that's expanded steadily since the end of the Cold War, and upon which our own wealth and safety depend."
3. On responsibility of the commander in chief: "That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions -- like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties -- that our forebears fought and bled for. Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it's up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them."
4. On having a personal life: "Take time, in the rush of events and responsibilities, for friends and family. They'll get you through the inevitable rough patches."
And here's Chris on how much (or little) Trump has followed that advice. | | Hillary Clinton hasn't shied away from Twitter since the election ... but on Sunday, she sent out a perplexing tweet endorsing a website called Verrit. CNN's Andrew Kaczynski summed it up best on Twitter: "What is this?"
Recode's Tony Romm looked into it. Turns out the start-up aims to organize Clinton supporters and arm them in social media fights. Per Tony's article:
"In the words of its creator, Peter Daou, Verrit is his attempt to create an online hub for Clinton backers so that they can find easy-to-share facts, stats and other 'information you can take out to social media when you're having debates on key issues people are discussing,' he said in an interview. The '65.8 million' referenced in Clinton's tweet refers to her own vote total from the 2016 presidential election.
Soon after Clinton's tweet, though, Verrit stopped loading for web users -- the result of a 'pretty significant and sophisticated' cyberattack, Daou told Recode. He declined to share the name of his hosting company, and did not yet know who exactly was behind the incident. But he said the traffic driven by Clinton's endorsement -- which generated more than 10,000 new Twitter followers for Verrit -- isn't responsible for the outage." | | CNN reported Friday that the Justice Department said in a court filing that "it has no evidence to support President Donald Trump's assertion in March that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped the phones in Trump Tower before last year's election."
Also on Friday: Roy Moore, the leading candidate in the Alabama Senate race, revealed he doesn't know what DACA is. In an interview with WVNN's radio host Dale Jackson, Moore was asked about Trump's attempt to end DACA protections. Moore's response "Pardon? The Dreamer program?" | | FRUSTRATION WITH FEINSTEIN | | Los Angeles Times' Seema Mehta reported this weekend that California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein is under fire after she said people should have "patience" with the Trump presidency.
From the story: "The statements — provocative in Democratic circles and near-heretical in her hometown of San Francisco, where she made them — reflected a moderation and pragmatism that have been hallmarks of Feinstein's career. But these qualities, after proving politically advantageous for decades, could become an albatross because of the state's shifting demographics and political leanings as the 84-year-old decides whether to seek a sixth term. Potential rivals are already circling ...
The comments Feinstein made about Trump on Tuesday -- urging patience and saying she believed he could be a good president if he learned and changed -- reinforced the notion among some liberals that Feinstein has grown out of touch with her constituents." | | | Another Royal BB is on the way! Prince William and his wife, Catherine, are expecting their third child, CNN reported Monday. The baby will become a sibling to 4-year-old Prince George and 2-year-old Princess Charlotte. He or she will be the fifth in line to the throne. | | | Hope we helped you catch up on the news on your last day of this holiday weekend! Make sure to tell others to subscribe. | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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