Welcome back to 10 Things in Politics. Sign up here to receive this newsletter. Plus, download Insider's app for news on the go – click here for iOS and here for Android. Send tips to [email protected] or tweet me at @BrentGriffiths.
Here's what we're talking about:
- What to know about law enforcement's preparations ahead of a rally for Capitol rioters
- A Republican lawmaker, who voted to impeach Trump, will retire
- One chart shows how the Democratic tax plan helps most Americans a lot more than the Trump cuts
With Phil Rosen.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
1. HAPPENING IN DC: Washington is on edge. Law enforcement, including the Capitol Police, is on high alert for a rally tomorrow organized by a former Trump campaign staffer in support of people who remain in federal custody over the Capitol riot.
Here's a look at how the nation's capital is preparing and why reminders of January 6 are never far away:
The Capitol Police aren't taking any chances: The Capitol again has fencing around it. There's also an emergency declaration in place that would allow the Capitol Police to deputize officers from other law-enforcement agencies, addressing one of the biggest issues during the riot, when it took some backup hours to arrive. National Guard troops are also on standby.
- Intelligence reportedly says there could be violence: Roll Call reported that the Capitol Police found in an intelligence evaluation that "domestic extremists" could be attracted to the rally, though the organizer has said it will be a "largely peaceful crowd."
Some continue to stoke tensions: Former President Donald Trump said people who were charged in connection to the riot were being "persecuted so unfairly" and again repeated his false and widely debunked claim casting doubt on the integrity of the 2020 election.
- Capitol Police officers and others who were directly affected say they can't simply escape the memories of January 6: "Something comes up every day, every week, where there's a new piece of information or some film or Congress won't have a commission or somebody's trying to change the narrative," Officer James Blassingame of the Capitol Police told The New York Times.
Read more about how law enforcement is preparing for this weekend.
2. Parts of Idaho are rationing care as Delta cases surge: Public-health officials in the state, one of the least vaccinated in the nation, expanded care rationing after a spike in COVID-19-related hospitalizations, the Associated Press reports. Before their announcement, Idaho's largest hospital network asked to be allowed to implement "crisis standards of care," which means intensive-care-unit beds and limited resources are focused on those most likely to survive. Hospitals in Alaska and Montana are implementing similar measures.
Go Nakamura/Reuters
3. Thousands of Haitian migrants are sleeping under a bridge in Texas: Officials say "more than 10,000 migrants have arrived at the impromptu camp" in Del Rio, Texas, The Washington Post reports. Customs and Border Protection is scrambling to send more federal agents to help process the migrants, whose arrival comes as illegal border crossings reach a 20-year high and as federal officials look to resettle 60,000 Afghans. It's unclear how many more Haitians could arrive in the coming days.
- A federal judge ordered the Biden administration to stop expelling families seeking asylum: Under what is known as Title 42, the US, beginning under Trump, has been denying the vast majority of border crossers during the pandemic the right to even apply for refuge. Critics have argued it violates asylum seekers' rights.
4. The US and China continue the latest round of shadowboxing: Beijing moved quickly to respond to the US's new pact with the UK and Australia by applying to join the regional trade deal once known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership that Trump kept the US from joining, The Wall Street Journal reports. More on how the world's two largest economies continue to spar.
- France is furious over the US deal: The French canceled a shindig set to celebrate ties between the two nations going back to the American Revolution after the deal was announced. France had been trying to cut its own deal with Australia, and top officials called the new arrangement a "stab in the back." The details on Paris' anger.
5. A Republican lawmaker who voted to impeach Trump will retire: Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump following the Capitol insurrection, announced he's not running for reelection. Gonzalez told The New York Times that Trump was a "cancer for the country" but added that the pressure facing his family following his vote was a major part of his decision too. More on Gonzalez's decision.
6. Biden slams income inequality in pitch for $3.5 trillion plan: President Joe Biden suggested "it's simply not fair" how wealthy Americans managed to evade taxes. His renewed pitch comes as his fellow Democrats on both sides of the Capitol suggest they're uncomfortable with aspects of the plan or even its massive size. Fears about inequality in the US rose during the pandemic as millions of Americans went jobless while stock indexes soared.
- Read more: One chart shows how the Democratic tax plan helps most Americans a lot more than the Trump cuts:
7. Lawyer to DNC-linked firm is charged with lying to the FBI: A grand jury on Thursday charged a lawyer who was previously listed as working for the firm Perkins Coie with making false statements to the FBI. The charges against Michael Sussmann are part of the special counsel John Durham's investigation into the origins of the Justice Department's Russia inquiry. Sussmann is accused of lying about why he provided allegations to the FBI about what he claimed was a "secret communications channel" between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank, a Russian bank. More on the news.
8. Total recalls - why an expert sees California as just the beginning: The high-profile, expensive attempt by politically weak Republicans in the Golden State to unseat Gov. Gavin Newsom- who is up for reelection next year - could have far-reaching implications for elected officials across the US. States where one party is overwhelmingly dominant are the ones most likely to witness increased recall efforts.
- Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is glad the California recall failed.
9. Peter Thiel and other Silicon Valley elites have a twist on doomsday prepping: The wealthiest in society, from Silicon Valley to Wall Street and beyond, take it to a whole other level, perhaps simply because they can afford to. Many are turning to multimillion-dollar real-estate buys in New Zealand, Lasik eye surgery, and building out ammo and food stockpiles. Here's why investing for the end of the world has been embraced by the superrich.
10. "Jeopardy!" has found its new hosts for now: Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings will host "Jeopardy!" for the rest of 2021 following the departure of the executive producer Mike Richards, Variety reports. See how the two new hosts fit into the plans to find a permanent replacement for Alex Trebek.
Today's trivia question: Today marks the anniversary of the signing of the Camp David Accords. After talks stalled early, where did President Jimmy Carter take Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin? Email your guess and a suggested question to me at [email protected].
- Yesterday's answer: Vice President Walter Mondale was the first veep to live in the Naval Observatory. Here are 15 things you didn't know about the vice president's official residence, including that Mondale's daughter Eleanor once called the Secret Service when she said she saw a ghost in her bedroom.
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!