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MORNING MESSAGE
Miles Mogulescu
Will no single Republican Senator put conscience and Constitution ahead of efforts to ramrod the lifetime appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court? Kavanaugh is not simply a conventional conservative court nominee. He’s a threat to holding Trump accountable for his crimes, and a threat to the economy and the environment. He would join the Supreme Court as the nominee of a minority-elected President confirmed by a minority-elected Senate, putting our very democracy at risk. Long after Trump, McConnell, Bannon and Pruitt are gone, their ghosts will write laws through the pen of Brett Kavanaugh, pitting the Court against the will of the people and threatening the future of the planet.
Judge Issues Rebuke To Trump On Federal Workers
Trump’s power to fire federal workers curtailed by judge. NYT: “A federal district judge in Washington struck down most of the key provisions of three executive orders that President Trump signed in late May that would have made it easier to fire federal employees. The ruling, issued early Saturday, is a blow to Republican efforts to rein in public-sector labor unions, which states like Wisconsin have aggressively curtailed in recent years. In June, the Supreme Court dealt public-sector unions a major blow by ending mandatory union fees for government workers nationwide. (Federal workers were already exempt from paying such fees.) The ruling is the latest in a series of legal setbacks for the administration, which has suffered losses in court in its efforts to wield executive authority to press its agenda on immigration, voting and the environment.”
Dems Strip Superdelegates Of Nominating Powers
Dems strip superdelegates of power in picking presidential nominee. Politico: “Democratic Party officials voted Saturday to strip superdelegates of much of their power in the presidential nominating process, infuriating many traditionalists while handing a victory to the party’s left flank. The measure’s overwhelming approval – met by cheers in a hotel ballroom here – concluded a tense summer meeting of the Democratic National Committee, which had labored over the issue since 2016. Superdelegates that year largely sided with Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders, enraging Sanders’ supporters. Under the new rule, superdelegates – the members of Congress, DNC members and other top officials who made up about 15 percent of delegates that year – will not be allowed to vote on the first ballot at a contested national convention. The change could dramatically re-shape the calculus of future presidential campaigns, rendering candidates’ connections to superdelegates less significant. ‘It’s a big victory for the base of the party,’ said Jeff Cohen, co-founder of the online activist group RootsAction.org. ‘Tom Perez realizes that he’d rather lose 10 dead-enders in the DNC than a couple million activists,’ he said of the party chairman. While long a priority of Sanders and his supporters, the effort to reduce superdelegates’ clout was embraced more broadly in recent months by Democratic Party officials desperate to win over young voters skeptical of centralized party power.”
WH Nixes Prison Reforms
Trump won’t endorse criminal justice bill before midterms. Axios: “President Trump has stymied a plan to push prison and sentencing reform before the midterms, according to an administration source with direct knowledge. In a White House meeting on Thursday afternoon, Trump decided that the compromise package that Jared Kushner, Sen. Chuck Grassley and others have been advocating for is too politically difficult to endorse before the elections, the source told Axios. Without the president backing the bill, which might have reduced some mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug crimes and sent around 4,000 prisoners home, it has zero chance of getting a vote before the midterms. Senate leadership was already reluctant to bring it up for a vote. The collapse of the bill is a win for opponents of the package, including law-and-order hardliners Sen. Tom Cotton and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.”
Immigration Judges Pressed To Fast-Track Rulings
Immigration judges reportedly instructed to hear more cases per day. ThinkProgress: “Immigration judges across the country are reportedly being told to speed-up the deportation process by cramming additional hearings into their schedules, according to a new report from BuzzFeed. The instruction comes as the Trump administration continues its efforts to round-up as many documented and undocumented immigrants as possible under the president’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, which refers anyone detained at the border for criminal prosecution, including some asylum seekers. Advocates are worried the mandate, which reportedly came from assistant chief immigration judges, who supervise separate immigration courts, could violate the due process rights of immigrants, as it forces judges to rush through three merit hearings per day, starting in October.”
Veterans React To CA Rep. Hunter’s Misuse Of Charity Funds
Hunter and his wife have dismayed some wounded warriors. LA Times: “The congressman wanted to purchase ‘Hawaii shorts,’ but was out of money. His wife told him to buy them at a golf pro shop so they could claim the expense later as ‘some (golf) balls for wounded warriors,’ prosecutors allege. Hunter was an officer in the Marines and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was the first combat veteran of those wars to be elected to Congress. ‘He should have known better,’ Riley said. ‘As a Marine, to use other people’s sacrifices to enrich himself — it’s unbelievable.’ After reading the charges against the congressman, Riley said he changed his mind. ‘He’s the last person I’d want in Congress,’ he said.”
Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.
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