Political Bulletin

WASHINGTON NEWS

House Dems May Break Up Immigration Bill

The immigration bill is back, with the Senate expected to debate it over the next two weeks. Senate passage is by no means assured, but the measure appears to have a fighting chance of surviving the legislative maneuvers and counter-maneuvers expected of the next couple of weeks. Keen observers of the current debate, however, have long expressed reservations about the chance of anything close to the Senate "grand bargain" (the bipartisan legislation including both border security measures and a "path to citizenship") making it through the House. In the House, Republicans seem firmly opposed to the legislation -- while Democrats are wary of passing any immigration bill without GOP support.

But now Democratic leaders may have found a partial way out of this impasse. The Washington Times reports this morning House Democrats "say they may break the immigration issue up into a series of smaller bills that would put off the tougher parts and allow others to pass, such as border security, and high-tech and agriculture worker programs that have clear support." That "could buy Democrats more time to work out the tougher aspects of immigration, such as what to do about the estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens now here, but it would go against the Senate's massive catchall approach and contradicts President Bush's call for a broad bill to pass."

Most of the press coverage this morning focuses on the Senate debate. The Chicago Tribune reports Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced the revived measure yesterday, and notes the bill "still will have to clear several procedural votes and weather consideration of a bevy of additional amendments before a final vote is taken." The Hill, meanwhile, notes Reid warned his fellow senators that "the Fourth of July recess might be canceled if the Senate can't complete meaningful work on energy and immigration legislation." The Los Angeles Times quotes a Reid aide saying, "Republican obstructionists are going to have a very simple decision to make later on this week. ... Are they going to stand for efforts to provide increased funding for border security along with comprehensive immigration reform? Or are they going to continue to block one of the top priorities of the president?'" The AP runs a similar story, focusing on Reid's expected reliance on a "quirky gambit known as a 'clay pigeon'" to push the measure through a development first reported by Roll Call yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Washington Times reports Republicans hope the upcoming debate will highlight "clear divisions" on the issue within Democratic ranks, while the Financial Times says the issue illustrates President Bush's status as a lame duck. Nothing, says the Times, "demonstrates his waning power more clearly than the strife surrounding his high-stakes push for an overhaul of US immigration laws." In that debate, "despite the huge investment of political capital, the president has failed to win the backing of his own party."

White House Accused Of Abusing RNC Email

The House Oversight Committee on Monday released a report that accuses the White House of failing to preserve the email accounts of several key White House aides. The New York Times runs an AP story this morning reporting that email records "are missing for 51 of the 88 White House officials who had electronic message accounts with the Republican National Committee." Oversight Chairman Henry Waxman said the Administration "may have committed 'extensive' violations of a law requiring that certain records be preserved." The report said "the RNC has preserved no e-mails for 51 officials," including Ken Mehlman, "a former White House political director who reportedly used his account frequently."

The Washington Post says White House "aides made extensive use of political e-mail accounts for official government business, despite rules requiring that they conduct such business through official communications channels." The RNC "told the investigators that White House senior political adviser Karl Rove alone sent or received more than 140,000 e-mails between 2002 and 2007, more than half of which involved individuals using official '.gov' e-mail accounts," according to Waxman's report. In his blog for The Politico, Patrick O'Connor says the White House actions fly "in the face of the Presidential Records Act," and McClatchy says "the line between official communications and partisan political messages seems to have been blurred."

But the Washington Times reports Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, "the Virginia Republican who chaired the oversight committee until Democrats took control of Congress in January, said the report was premature and speculative, and fell short of the standard for investigations." USA Today notes White House press secretary Tony Snow "told reporters he would not 'respond specifically' to the committee's findings but said the RNC e-mail accounts 'were designed precisely to avoid Hatch Act violations that prohibit the use of government assets for certain political activities.'"

More Trouble For Gonzales? Roll Call reports "House Democrats are preparing a new line of investigation" into Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, "suggesting that as White House counsel, Gonzales allowed staff members to continue using Republican National Committee e-mail accounts to conduct official government business, in violation of the Presidential Records Act."

Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.

Senate Democrats Want 2004 Florida Probe

The AP reports Senate Democrats "urged the Justice Department on Monday to investigate whether one of its former prosecutors led attempts to suppress Florida voter turnout during the 2004 presidential election." The request by Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and Sheldon Whitehouse "is the latest facet of Congress' ongoing inquiry into whether politics played a role in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys."

Official Accused Of Blocking Probes McClatchy reports, "A former Justice Department political appointee blocked career lawyers from filing at least three lawsuits charging local and county governments with violating the voting rights of African-Americans and other minorities, seven former senior department employees charged Monday." Hans von Spakovsky also "derailed at least two investigations into possible voter discrimination," according to former employees of the Voting Rights Section.

Another McClatchy report, meanwhile, says "the investigations into the Bush administration's decision to fire nine US attorneys have exposed how the administration has eroded the firewall between partisan politics and the Justice Department and compromised the independence of the nation's top law enforcement agency." In its analysis, McClatchy says the Administration, among other things, "allowed political adviser Karl Rove and the White House Office of Political Affairs to become conduits for complaints about politically sensitive prosecutions."

GAO Studies Signing Statements

The Government Accounting Office (Congress' investigative arm) says in a new report that the Bush Administration failed to enforce the provisions of some laws after issuing "statements" when the measures were signed by the President. The AP reports Democratic lawmakers "asked the Government Accountability Office to conduct the study," and yesterday they said "it was further proof that the Bush White House oversteps constitutional bounds in ignoring the will of Congress." But Roll Call says the report "does not uncover any new major examples in which the administration has circumvented Congressional intent."

The Washington Post notes "GAO investigators found 160 separate provisions that Bush had objected to in signing statements. They then chose 19 to follow. Of those 19 provisions, six -- nearly a third -- were not carried out according to law. Ten were executed by the executive branch." The "instances of noncompliance were not as dramatic as some of the signing statements that have caused the most stir, such as Bush's suggestion that he was not bound by a ban on torture in US military detention facilities. But congressional aides said they were significant."

Few Senators Read Iraq Intel Estimate

The Hill reports only a "handful of senators outside the Intelligence Committee say they read the full 92-page National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's ability to attack the US before voting to go to war, according to a survey conducted by The Hill. The low interest in the classified estimate, or NIE, could offer valuable cover to the five senators seeking the presidency who acknowledged during recent debates that they did not read the complete document before the pivotal Iraq vote."

Congressional GOP Has Mixed View Of Rove

Congressional Republicans have a decidedly mixed view of Karl Rove. Roll Call this morning reports many Hill Republicans who "view him as both the GOP's greatest electoral tactician of the decade and, increasingly, as the mastermind behind some of the party's major policy and political fiascos." Some Republicans "privately wonder whether at times Rove has done them more harm then good -- especially as they wade through a politically hairy immigration debate that Rove has helped fuel in his desire to attract more Hispanic voters to the GOP."

Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.

Top

CAMPAIGN NEWS

Obama Says Memo A "Dumb Mistake"

Sen. Barack Obama's apology yesterday for his opposition research piece on Hillary Clinton for her ties to India is receiving extensive national press coverage this morning. The AP reports Obama "on Monday said his campaign made a 'dumb mistake' when it circulated a memo criticizing rival Hillary Rodham Clinton's financial ties to India." In an interview, Obama "disavowed the memo which carried the headline - 'Hillary Clinton (D-Punjab)' - and referred to Bill and Hillary Clintons' investments in India; her fundraising among Indian-Americans; and the former president's $300,000 in speech fees from Cisco, a company that has moved U.S. jobs to India." Obama said, "It was a dumb mistake on our campaign's part and I made it clear to my staff in no uncertain terms that it was a mistake."

The Chicago Tribune reports that in a letter "posted on the Web site of South Asians for Obama," Obama said, "In sum, our campaign made a mistake." The New York Times (6/19, Zeleny, 1.16M) reports Obama said, "The memo's caustic tone and its focus on contributions by Indian-Americans to the Clinton campaign was potentially hurtful, and as such, unacceptable."

The Los Angeles Times reports Sen. Obama "telephoned several Indian American activists to express his regret for the memo, which poked fun at the ties between India and his chief rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. He told the Des Moines Register editorial board that the document was 'stupid' and 'caustic.'" The "flap was the latest in a series of missteps by Obama's campaign as the first-term senator and former Illinois state senator, in challenging Clinton, attempts to overtake a savvy candidate backed by one of the most potent national political machines in history."

The Washington Times reports Obama "blamed his campaign staff for crafting an opposition research document aimed at rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a memo that prompted accusations he is practicing the kind of negative campaigning he regularly assails." It's the "latest in a string of incidents in which the Illinois Democrat has distanced himself from actions taken by his staff, while his opponents say Mr. Obama's campaign is obviously employing tactics that top campaign officials and the candidate himself have said they wouldn't use." Under the headline, "Obama Apologizes For Punjab-gate," the Washington Post reports that in his apology, Obama "pointed the finger at his campaign staff," saying, "Although I was not aware of the contents of the memo prior to its distribution, I consider the entire campaign -- and in particular myself -- responsible for the mistake. We have taken appropriate action to prevent errors like this from happening in the future.'"

The Chicago Sun-Times reports, "This is the third time Obama has blamed staff for mistakes. In May, Obama told leaders of the International Association of Fire Fighters he skipped their New Hampshire meeting because of his scheduling staff. SAFO co-founder Hrishi Karthikeyan said [campaign manager David] Plouffe and Obama political staffer Rudi Shenks were on a conference call Monday with other Indian-Americans, where" Plouffe "'personally apologized to us.' Obama spokesman Bill Burton said materials will now be reviewed by a 'higher level' -- Plouffe and strategist David Axelrod -- before release."

Obama Seen As Having Put Himself Above Such Tactics One of the factors driving the coverage of Obama on this issue is the idea that his campaign was not the type to engage in such attacks. In his 'The Fix' blog column on the website of the Washington Post, Chris Cillizza suggests that such tactics are especially damaging for Obama because "is widely perceived as a change agent," and "the 'every campaign does it' argument probably isn't good enough for Obama. Whether it is perception or reality, Obama is regarded as having set a higher standard for himself."

Obama May Outraise Clinton In Q2

The New York Sun reports that as the end of the second quarter fundraising period approaches, candidates are holding "mega events," such as a Hillary Clinton event with billionaire Warren Buffett. The events are a sign of the importance of cash primary, which gave Mitt Romney such a boost after the first quarter. The potential biggest surprise for the second quarter? The Sun reports, "Those closely monitoring the campaigns are predicting that Mr. Obama will out-raise" Clinton for the quarter.

Giuliani A No Show At Iraq Group Meetings

Long Island Newsday reports Rudolph Giuliani's "membership on an elite Iraq study panel came to an abrupt end last spring after he failed to show up for a single official meeting of the group, causing the panel's top Republican to give him a stark choice: either attend the meetings or quit, several sources said." Giuliani "left the Iraq Study Group last May after just two months, walking away from a chance to make up for his lack of foreign policy credentials on the top issue in the 2008 race, the Iraq war."

Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.

Top

POLITICAL HUMOR

The Latest From Late Night Comedians

Jay Leno: "The Republican Party here in California has obtained a special visa to hire a Canadian...to be the state deputy political director because they say they can't find a qualified American to do the job. So, apparently, working for the Republicans is one of those icky jobs Americans just don't want to do, ladies and gentlemen. They have to bring people in."

Conan O'Brien: "Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback kicked off a 1,200-mile campaign trip through Iowa. Yeah. Brownback said, 'I'm not going to stop until I find someone who knows who the hell I am.'"

Sign up here to get the US News Political Bulletin emailed to you each morning at 8 a.m.

Top