News From the Swamp

POLITICS AND MONEY: “The Trump administration and congressional leaders, including Democrats, have reached a critical debt and budget agreement that all but eliminates the risk of another government shut down this fall — but that has already drawn fierce blowback from fiscal conservatives worried about overspending, as well as progressives unhappy with where the money could go,” Fox News reports. Assuming Congress passes the budget agreement, spending caps will climb by $320 billion and the debt ceiling will be shelved through July 31, 2021. From Sen. Rand Paul’s point of view, “It scraps the sequester, which is a huge mistake. It would be a huge mistake if the Republican leadership agrees to this.”

MASSIVE DEREGULATION: Conversely, there’s an interesting juxtaposition between the budget agreement and the Trump administration’s deregulation enterprise. According to the Washington Examiner’s Paul Bedard, “When Donald Trump in 2016 pledged to kill two Obama-era regulations for every new one, crowds went wild. … And now as he opens his reelection campaign, Russ Vought, acting budget office director, has delivered the results sure to win even more rally cheers. ‘We’ve hit 13 to 1,’ he told a Heritage Foundation conference on federalism. And cutting so many regulations, he added, has saved taxpayers $33 billion.” John Hinderaker observes, “Lower taxes are good, definitely, but over-regulation is just as important a problem. … Cutting regulations is one area where the Trump administration has succeeded beyond any reasonable expectation.”

COMEY’S COVERT OPERATION: “According to RealClearInvestigations, a soon-to-be-filed report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz alleges that former FBI Director James Comey ‘was secretly trying to build a conspiracy case against the president, while at times acting as an investigative agent.’ … [Paul] Sperry cites two U.S. officials briefed on the IG’s investigation into possible FBI misconduct who say the former director was effectively ‘running a covert operation against’ Trump, which started with a ‘defensive briefing’ he privately gave Trump a few weeks before his inauguration.” (The Daily Wire)

FOOD-STAMP REFORM: “The Trump administration on Tuesday proposed a rule to tighten food stamp eligibility that would cut about 3.1 million people from the program, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials said.” (Reuters)

On the Immigration Front

THE GOOD… “Homeland Security announced an aggressive new policy Monday to fast-track deportations of recent immigrants caught living in the U.S. illegally, looking to expand a tool that’s been used successfully at the border for years. Expedited removal allows immigration officers to order a deportation without the extensive immigration court proceedings and appeals that accompany other removals.” (The Washington Times)

THE BAD… “The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday ruled against the Trump administration’s policy allowing for the indefinite detention of certain asylum-seekers, saying a lower court ruling temporarily blocking it can remain in place.” (The Hill)

AND THE UGLY: “As of April 16, 2019, nine states including California, Illinois, and New Jersey claim to be Sanctuary States, while numerous counties and cities in other states also say they will protect illegal immigrants by refusing to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. On Monday, Montgomery County, Maryland’s largest county, officially joins the list. County Executive Marc Elrich will sign an executive order … that will keep the area from cooperating with ICE, even though the policy has been unofficially on the books for some time.” (The Daily Wire)

Polling

TRUMP APPROVAL IMPROVES: “Trump’s approval rating hit 44 percent in the new NPR/NewsHour/Marist poll, the highest level at which it’s been recorded in any mainstream opinion poll with the exception of a July 7 Washington Post poll that recorded 47 percent approval.” (National Review)

OPEN-BORDERS BUZZKILL: Even most Democrats don’t support decriminalizing border crossings, poll finds (The Week)

Other Notables

JOHNSON WINS: “Britain’s next Prime Minister will be Boris Johnson after he won a ballot vote of Conservative Party members against Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, it was announced Tuesday. … He will replace outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May Wednesday after she announced her resignation last month amid failure to lead the nation out of the European Union.” (Fox News)

Closing Arguments

POLICY: New budget deal puts final nail in the Tea Party coffin (National Review)

POLICY: Contrary to the popular narrative, most American prisoners belong behind bars (City Journal)

SATIRE: New York Times praises Soviet Union for unprecedented gender equality in labor camps (The Babylon Bee)

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

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