As you know, White House Chief Economic Adviser Gary Cohn resigned late Tuesday afternoon. There were reports for months that Cohn was unhappy in the White House. (He is a Democrat, by the way.)

His resignation appears to stem from losing the argument over steel and aluminum tariffs. His departure is also cordial. Cohn praised President Trump and the president praised Cohn for his “dedicated service.” But, of course, the media narrative is as damaging as possible.

Even on CNBC, which is supposed to be the capitalist network, multiple commentators said this morning that the tax bill would never have passed without Cohn’s ability to work with Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. But the tax bill was Trump’s idea, and not one Democrat voted for it.

Other commentators credited Cohn for repealing bad regulations. Trump, not Cohn, ran on repealing unnecessary regulations and he will continue repealing unnecessary regulations.


As part of this “Cohn chaos” narrative, all the media are attacking the tariffs. But the argument is contradictory.

Many financial analysts were saying that the tax cut was coming at exactly the wrong time. They warned that it would make the economy “overheat,” leading to massive inflation, causing huge increases in interest rates.

The tax cut was valued at $1.5 trillion over 10 years, or $150 billion a year. Now the “experts” are claiming that the $9 billion tariffs will neutralize the tax cuts and cause a fragile economy to collapse. Which is it? Is the economy overheating or is it fragile?

Another emerging theme is: “Where is Trump getting these crazy ideas, and who will stop him now that Cohn is gone?” Again, our elites do not understand Donald Trump. He has been denouncing bad trade deals and talking about economic nationalism for decades.

Thousands of blue-collar workers in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin did not turn out to vote in November 2016 for Gary Cohn. They stood in line for hours to vote for Donald Trump because he promised to fight for their jobs and rebuild their communities.

The reason many previous Republicans nominees have struggled and largely failed to win those states is that they followed Cohn’s approach to economics.


I predict that in the weeks ahead, you will see some really great trade deals announced, including a much improved NAFTA that protects America’s interests. It is so sad to see so many elites so upset about the idea of America winning again.


Trump Sues California


The Trump Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit last night seeking to overturn three California laws that effectively make the Golden State a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants.

Speaking to state and local law enforcement officers in Sacramento yestereday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said, “The Department of Justice and the Trump administration are going to fight these unjust, unfair and unconstitutional policies that have been imposed on you.”

Referring to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who warned illegal immigrants of an impending immigration sweep, Sessions said, “How dare you needlessly endanger the lives of our law enforcement officers to promote a radical, open borders agenda!”

 
This lawsuit should be a slam dunk for the administration.

Remember back in 2010 when Arizona passed commonsense laws against illegal immigration? The law was overwhelmingly popular with the American people. A CBS/New York Times poll found that 63% of Americans felt the law was “about right” or “doesn’t go far enough.”

But the Obama administration sued Arizona. In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 3 against the state on the grounds that enforcement of immigration law is the exclusive domain of the federal government.

That being the case, it stands to reason that states cannot interfere with the enforcement of federal immigration law or punish businesses that cooperate with federal authorities. But since this case is starting out in left-wing courts on the Left Coast, I’m not expecting a quick victory in this battle.

That said, there is some good news to report: Three separate federal courts have in recent days:

• Upheld Trump’s authority to end the DACA program.

• Dismissed challenges to President Trump’s border wall.

• Ruled that the Department of Justice can withhold federal dollars to punish sanctuary states.

Investigating the Investigators

Two key congressional leaders Tuesday joined the growing call for the appointment of a second special counsel to investigate 2016 campaign-related abuses by the FBI and the Obama Department of Justice.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a letter to Attorney General Sessions stating, “There is evidence of bias, trending toward animus, among those charged with investigating serious cases.”

Goodlatte and Gowdy warned that the appointment of another special counsel was necessary due to conflicts of interest within the Department of Justice and the inability of the inspector general to access all relevant witnesses.   They concluded their letter by calling for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate:

• Decisions made and not made by the Department of Justice and the FBI in 2016 and 2017.

• Bias by federal employees or agents involved in these cases.

• Whether decisions to charge or not charge were consistent with the law, policies and procedures.

• Any abuses of the secret FISA court process.

What Blue Wave?

Texas voters went to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots in critical primary contests. In recent days, there has been a lot of hype about high voter turnout, especially on the Left.

And while it is true that Democrat numbers were up, the “Blue Wave” that was supposedly going to sweep Texas was more like a small splash by the time the votes were tallied. For example:

• Just over one million votes were cast in the Democrat gubernatorial primary, while more than 1.5 million votes were cast in the Republican primary.

• Democrats are heavily targeting a GOP-held Dallas congressional seat that Hillary Clinton carried in 2016. Yet more Republicans voted Tuesday than Democrats. If Tuesday’s primary totals presage the November results, the Republican would prevail 51% to 49%.

• Democrats are also targeting a GOP-held Houston seat that Clinton won. But if the November results mirror Tuesday’s vote, the Republican incumbent would win 53% to 47%.

In another setback for national Democrats, their leading fundraisers in at least three House races placed third or worse. That means weaker, underfunded candidates will emerge from the runoffs.



In other news, I am pleased to report that CWF-endorsed candidate Chip Roy posted a strong first place showing atop a field of 18 candidates in the race for the 21st Congressional District. Roy is a former chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz and also served as a senior adviser to Gov. Rick Perry. He is exactly the kind of committed, principled conservative we need in Congress. CWF will do everything we can to ensure Roy wins the May runoff and the November general election.