• 2020 VISION: “President Trump formally launched his 2020 re-election campaign Tuesday night before a jam-packed crowd in Orlando’s Amway Center arena, and quickly unloaded on the media organizations and government actors he said tried their hardest with ‘everything they had’ to bring down both his candidacy and presidency,” Fox News reports. The Washington Examiner offers advice on curating a winning message.

• PATRICK SHANAHAN EXITS: According to National Review, “Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan has withdrawn from the confirmation process after being nominated to continue in his role on a permanent basis.” The report adds that “Shanahan’s confirmation process was slowed by an unusually lengthy FBI background check. The delay was likely related to a 2011 domestic-violence incident in which Shanahan’s then-17-year-old son hit his mother in the head with a baseball bat.” Mark Esper will replace Shanahan for the foreseeable future.

• EPA’S REGULATORY ROLLBACK: The Washington Post reports that the EPA “finalized its biggest climate policy rollback Wednesday, requiring the U.S. power sector to cut its 2030 carbon emissions 35 percent over 2005 levels.” The Post laments that “The Affordable Clean Energy rule … demands much smaller carbon dioxide reductions than the industry is already on track to achieve, even without any federal regulation.” So why is it complaining?

• NEW YORK’S REGULATORY ENLARGEMENT: Meanwhile, “Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said … he has reached an agreement with legislative leaders over a bill to slash New York’s greenhouse gas emissions, setting the stage for one of the most significant state climate victories since President Trump took office,” E&E News reveals. “The legislation calls for reducing emissions by 40% from 1990 levels by 2030 and 85% by 2050. The remaining 15% of emissions would be offset, making the state carbon neutral. The bill would also require that all electricity generation come from carbon-free sources by 2040.”

• TRADE TALKS REKINDLED: “China and the United States are rekindling trade talks ahead of a meeting next week between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, cheering financial markets on hopes that an escalating trade war between the two countries would abate.” (Reuters)

• BORDER DEAL: “The top members of the Senate Appropriations Committee have struck a deal on President Trump’s request for more funding tied to the U.S.-Mexico border after weeks of stalemate… The deal … would provide Trump more than $4.5 billion for the border funding package.” (The Hill)

• BORDER COURTS: “The Trump administration, looking for ways to alleviate the crush of asylum-seeking migrants at the United States’ southern border without being granted additional resources, is considering opening a series of ‘immigration courts’ at key border checkpoints to speed the asylum process by offering quick adjudication of asylum claims.” (The Daily Wire)

• DRUG BUST: “Federal authorities seized 15,000 kilos of cocaine, worth as much as $1 billion, at a Philadelphia shipping port, officials said Tuesday.” (NBC News)

• DEMS REPUDIATE TRANSGENDER TROOP BAN: “The House voted Tuesday to block the Pentagon’s new transgender troop policy, taking a swipe at President Donald Trump’s move to ban transgender service in the military. During debate on a $1 trillion spending package, lawmakers voted 243-183 to adopt an amendment from Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) to block funding to implement the new policy.” (Politico)

• MAINTAINING THE STATUS QUO: “The House on Tuesday rejected an amendment that would have limited the government’s ability to collect Americans’ personal communications without a warrant. … Congress last year reauthorized Section 702 of FISA with few alterations after a bitter battle between privacy activists and security hawks in both chambers.” (The Hill)

• POLICY: Can Trump really deport millions of illegal immigrants? (The Daily Signal)

• POLICY: Sorry, banning plastic bags won’t save our planet (Bjorn Lomborg)

• HUMOR: Harvard teaches incoming students valuable life lesson that people can never change (The Babylon Bee)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights.

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