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THE WIDE WORLD OF NEWS WEEKAHEAD
TODAY
1.
You can live stream the speech here.
With the debt ceiling deadline looming and Speaker McCarthy looking to frame the debate, the Golden Stater comes to Gotham City.
Per the Washington Post:
McCarthy aims to assuage skittish investors, rally his party and burnish his own political legacy…
[T]he “real question” is if [Republicans}…. can shore up the 218 votes needed in the House to pass a bill. With tensions simmering among the GOP’s far-right and moderate ranks — and only four votes to spare in a narrow majority — Republicans said they need to show progress if they hope to put new pressure on Democrats.
What to watch for: Can McCarthy neutralize the Democrats’ built-in advantage with the press on fiscal showdowns?
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TODAY
2.
Per the New York Times:
House Republicans are descending on New York on Monday for a hearing that will use the issue of crime as a political cudgel against Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who charged former President Donald J. Trump with falsifying business records.
During the hearing, “Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan,” Republicans on the Judiciary Committee plan to accuse Mr. Bragg of embracing “pro-crime, anti-victim policies” that they say have caused “an increase in violent crime and a dangerous community for New York City residents,” according to a release from the committee.
Democrats have dismissed the session as a stunt meant to mislead the public into believing that crime has reached crisis levels because of lax enforcement by liberal officials.
Per the Associated Press: “C-SPAN has declined to air it on TV.”
What to watch for: Is this a one-day circusy partisan food fight – or does it have any enduring repercussions?
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TODAY
3. Congress is back in the Capitol.
With the expected return of Senators McConnell and Fetterman, there is a lot on the Hill plate, with expected/possible reaction/action on while-they-were-gone matters, including guns, the document leak, China, abortion, Clarence Thomas, Diane Feinstein, McCarthy swipes at his leadership team, 2024 developments, and a whole lot more.
What to watch for: Will it be a leadership-run agenda – or will the real action emanate from the grassroots-fueled back benches?
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TODAY
4. Fox versus Dominion.
A Delaware judge delayed the start of the eagerly anticipated trial on a voting-machine company’s defamation claims against Fox News, an announcement that came as the network is looking for a possible way to settle the case.
Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said late Sunday that he was delaying the start of the trial by one day, moving it from Monday to Tuesday. He didn’t explain the reasons for the move.
Fox has made a late push to settle the dispute with Dominion Voting Systems out of court, people familiar with the situation said Sunday.
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WEDNESDAY
5. The expected Supreme Court ruling on mifepristone.
What to watch for: Duh – who votes how, the real-world consequences, and what does the losing side do in response?
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WEDNESDAY
6. Per the White House:
The President will travel to a union training facility in Accokeek, Maryland to deliver remarks on his plan to reward work, not wealth and to grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out, not the top down.
The Washington Post’s essential reading piece on the prospects of a recession frames the thinking of Team Biden, as it simultaneously tries to jawbone away economic slippage and position to blame the Republicans if times get tough.
Also, per the New York Times on an actual Biden campaign:
[T]ere has been increasing discussion among the broader Biden team about the notion of a low-key video announcement on April 25, the fourth anniversary of his entrance to the 2020 race — the kind of symmetry that Mr. Biden is said to appreciate….
Mr. Biden has been doing some extra contributor outreach. Donors are often among the attendees to the White House Easter Egg Roll, and some were among those invited to an additional breakfast with Mr. Biden and the first lady in the state dining room before the event, according to two people with knowledge of the breakfast, which did not appear on the president’s public schedule.
What to watch for: Is Joe Biden feisty enough to be the dominate figure of the week on his chosen issues – or relegated to a supporting role?
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ALL WEEK
7. Trump versus DeSantis.
The dueling TV attack ads, the Trump aggressiveness in getting more endorsements, and the Wall Street Journal ed board’s concern over DeSantis’ abortion law all tee up the kind of “King Kong versus Godzilla” engagement that crowds out attention on other hopefuls.
What to watch for: Trump will want to keep escalating the fight, but does DeSantis?
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ESSENTIAL READING
* Doug Sosnik on the “diploma divide” with every paragraph a winner, here is just one to tempt you:
Voting in the suburbs has been decisive in determining the outcome of the last two presidential elections: Voters in the suburbs of Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Phoenix determined the winner in the last two presidential elections and are likely to play the same pivotal role in 2024.