Subject: DNC Clips 5.9.2016
From: "Price, Jenna" <[email-masked]>
To: "Price, Jenna" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 9 May 2016 04:15:12 -0700

WEATHER: 63F, Partly Cloudy

POTUS and the Administration

Obama addresses 'diaper gap' on Mother's Day<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/279164-obama-addresses-diaper-gap-on-mothers-day>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

President Obama on Sunday addressed the "diaper gap," commending the many people and businesses that have joined the effort to help provide diapers to low-income families. More than 740 nonprofit locations have now been accepted into the Community Diaper Program, which is a partnership between an e-commerce company, a diaper manufacturer and local nonprofits, Obama wrote in a Medium post published on Mother's Day. The point of the partnership is to help provide free diapers to low-income families.  Other American businesses donated more than 3 million diapers to diaper banks in March, the president wrote. "And today, I’m happy to announce that more businesses have joined in this effort, adding over one million more donated diapers to that total," he wrote. He said people across the country have mobilized to put on diaper drives to further address the issue.

Obama Weighs Visiting Hiroshima or Nagasaki<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/09/world/asia/obama-weighs-visiting-hiroshima-or-nagasaki.html?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // GARDINER HARRIS

When President Obama first visited Japan in November 2009, he said he hoped someday to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the United States dropped atomic bombs during World War II. With his fourth and likely final visit to Japan as president scheduled this month for a Group of 7 meeting for leaders of industrialized nations, the White House is deciding whether Mr. Obama will follow through. No sitting American president has ever visited the cities, because of concerns that such a trip would suggest that the United States was apologizing for the attacks. “The memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are etched in the minds of the world, and I would be honored to have the opportunity to visit those cities at some point during my presidency,” Mr. Obama said in 2009. The calculus for a visit is particularly complicated for Mr. Obama. Political opponents have often falsely accused him of undertaking an “apology tour” of world capitals in his first year in office, so anything that even hints at atonement would feed that criticism.

Obama itches for Trump fight<http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/279063-obama-itches-for-trump-fight>

THE HILL // JORDAN FABIAN

President Obama can’t wait to take on Donald Trump. Obama has been largely sidelined in the presidential contest, a last-year officeholder with high approval ratings who has repeatedly shown he likes to spar with political foes. With Bernie Sanders continuing to slug it out with likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Obama largely has to choose his openings to talk 2016. So on Friday, when the White House announced Obama would make a statement about the economy, the president knew he’d get asked about Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. And when he did, Obama was ready. “We are in serious times, and this is a really serious job,” Obama said. “This is not entertainment; this is not a reality show. This is a contest for the presidency of the United States.” The remarks previewed a part of the Obama-Clinton strategy against Trump: that he is untested and not ready for the White House, and that the GOP and media have fallen down on the job by failing to properly vet him. The remarks also reflect the urgency Obama feels about defeating Trump. Keeping the White House in Democratic hands, no matter who became the Republican nominee, has always been an important goal for Obama.

The war against the Islamic State hits hurdles just as the U.S. military gears up<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/the-war-against-the-islamic-state-hits-hurdles-just-as-the-us-military-gears-up/2016/05/08/013897f8-10ac-11e6-a9b5-bf703a5a7191_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // LIZ SLY

After months of unexpectedly swift advances, the U.S.-led war against the Islamic State is running into hurdles on and off the battlefield that call into question whether the pace of recent gains can be sustained. Chaos in Baghdad, the fraying of the cease-fire in Syria and political turmoil in Turkey are among some of the potential obstacles that have emerged in recent weeks to complicate the prospects for progress. Others include small setbacks for U.S.-allied forces on front lines in northern Iraq and Syria, which have come as a reminder that a strategy heavily reliant on local armed groups of varying proficiency who are often at odds with one another won’t always work. When President Obama first ordered U.S. warplanes into action against the extremists sweeping through Iraq and Syria in 2014, U.S. officials put a three- to five-year timeline on a battle they predicted would be hard. After a rocky start, officials say they are gratified by the progress made, especially over the past six months.

One Big Piece Of Obama’s Legacy: A Park System That Looks Like All Of Us<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-national-monuments-diversity_us_572cf95be4b0bc9cb046d8ca>

HUFFINGTON POST // KATE SHEPPARD

President Barack Obama is expected to declare the Stonewall Inn a national monument in the coming weeks. Stonewall, located in Greenwich Village, New York, is known as the birthplace of the gay rights movement. In June 1969, the bar’s patrons fought back against repeated harassment and police raids, sparking other riots and protests against the criminalization of gay people. Officials from the Department of Interior will hold a listening session on Monday on the proposal to recognize Stonewall. It’s expected to be finalized as soon as next month, The Washington Post reported last week. The site will be the first national monument recognizing the gay rights movement, and it’s part of the Obama administration’s ongoing effort to diversity the sites in the National Park System. Under the Antiquities Act of 1906 — signed into law by Republican Theodore Roosevelt — the president has the power to designate national monuments, thus granting federal protection to areas of historic or natural significance. A monument is a separate designation from a national park (only Congress can create a park), but it grants special protections.

Panama Papers data set for public release<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279176-panama-papers-data-set-for-public-release>

THE HILL // CYRA MASTER

A journalist group on Monday will release a large swath of documents that are part of the Panama Papers, AFP reported Sunday. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) will release the documents in a searchable database accessible to the public at offshoreleaks.icij.org. The U.S.-based group said the release "will not be a 'data dump'" like those that gained attention at Wikileaks. But it will reveal names and information about 200,000 offshore entities set up by wealthy people worldwide. The data came from digital archives of Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that specialized in creating and running offshore entities, which it says were hacked. The law firm on Thursday issued a "cease and desist" letter to the journalist group, saying putting up the information publicly would violate attorney-client privilege. But the group says it is important the public be able to see the information. "We think that information about who owns the company should be public and transparent," Marina Walker Guevara, deputy director of the ICIJ, told CNN.

Why Middle Eastern Leaders Are Talking to Putin, Not Obama<http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/putin-obama-middle-east-leaders-213867>

POLITICO // DENNIS ROSS

The United States has significantly more military capability in the Middle East today than Russia—America has 35,000 troops and hundreds of aircraft; the Russians roughly 2,000 troops and, perhaps, 50 aircraft—and yet Middle Eastern leaders are making pilgrimages to Moscow to see Vladimir Putin these days, not rushing to Washington. Two weeks ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to see the Russian president, his second trip to Russia since last fall, and King Salman of Saudi Arabia is planning a trip soon. Egypt’s president and other Middle Eastern leaders have also made the trek to see Putin. Why is this happening, and why on my trips to the region am I hearing that Arabs and Israelis have pretty much given up on President Barack Obama? Because perceptions matter more than mere power: The Russians are seen as willing to use power to affect the balance of power in the region, and we are not.

Powerful Policy Maker Believes the Fed’s on the Right Track<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/09/business/economy/powerful-policy-maker-believes-the-feds-on-the-right-track.html?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // BINYAMIN APPLEBAUM

William C. Dudley, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York president, who helped pilot the Fed’s post-crisis stimulus campaign, sounded pretty calm about the nation’s current economic situation. In an interview on Friday, Mr. Dudley said he foresaw continued growth despite bumps in the early months of the year — enough growth for the Fed to get back to slowly raising its benchmark interest rate. And if growth should falter, he said, there is plenty of medicine in the Fed’s chest. It remains a “reasonable expectation” that the Fed will raise its benchmark interest rate twice this year, Mr. Dudley said. “I think the general story of the economy over the last few years is very much intact,” he said during the conversation at the New York Fed’s ornate fortress in Lower Manhattan. “I think we’re still on track.” The Fed in recent months has faced some criticism that it moved prematurely by raising rates in December for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis. In the months after the move, both domestic and global growth weakened unexpectedly, and volatility increased across a wide range of financial markets.

Trump and the Obama Effect<http://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-and-the-obama-effect-1462738574>

WALL STREET JOURNAL // L. GORDON CROVITZ

Top presidential advisers often go public as administrations end, but there has rarely been a disclosure as illuminating as how President Obama’s top spin doctor helped turn American foreign policy upside down. In a New York Times Magazine article this weekend headlined “The Aspiring Novelist Who Became Obama’s Foreign Policy Guru: How Ben Rhodes Rewrote the Rules of Diplomacy for the Digital Age,” writer David Samuels details how Mr. Rhodes, a former speechwriter, sold the disastrous nuclear deal with Iran by creating a false claim of “moderate” Iranian officials. Mr. Rhodes brags about keeping Mr. Obama’s long-standing plan to elevate Iran over allies such as Israel and the Gulf States hidden from the public by manipulating liberal journalists and think-tank analysts and using the short attention span of social media to obfuscate the truth.

Close Encounters With Jets Show Russia’s Anger at NATO Buildup, U.S. Says<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/09/world/europe/russia-us-jets-anger-nato-buildup.html?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // HELENE COOPER

When the Pentagon complained about a Russian fighter plane performing a barrel roll near an Air Force reconnaissance plane in international airspace over the Baltic Sea on April 29, a quick response came from Moscow, which claimed that the American plane did not have its transponder turned on. “The U.S. Air Force has two solutions,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a sharp statement. “Either not to fly near our borders or to turn the transponder on for identification.” (American officials said the transponder had, indeed, been turned on.) With that, American officials and foreign policy experts said, Russia delivered its response to President Obama’s decision this year to substantially increase the deployment of heavy weapons, armored vehicles and other equipment to NATO countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The move is meant to deter Russia from further aggression in the region. By sharply ramping up so-called intercepts of American ships and planes in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia is demonstrating its anger over the increased American military presence in a region it considers part of its backyard, White House officials said. They called the Russian actions harassment.

Congress says no Puerto Rico bailout, but tax deal beat it to the punch<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/congress-puerto-rico-bail-out-222916>

POLITICO // BRIAN FALER

Lawmakers say they absolutely, positively will not bail out Puerto Rico, but here's the thing: The federal government already is bailing out Puerto Rico. The Obama administration effectively has been providing the beleaguered island with billions of dollars in aid through a little-noticed and convoluted tax arrangement. With the help of a Washington law firm, Puerto Rico in 2010 created a special corporate levy aimed at getting money out of the U.S. Treasury, and the IRS has refused to rule on whether it’s legitimate. U.S. companies located on the island act as middlemen: First they pay taxes to the commonwealth, and then they are made whole when they claim foreign tax credits from the U.S. The aid, which in some years amounts to more than 20 percent of Puerto Rico's budget, was never approved by Congress, and some analysts question whether the arrangement is constitutional. They say it amounts to just the sort of bailout lawmakers now working on a rescue package have forsworn.

Democrats

Va. governor: Order restoring voting rights to felons 'morally the right thing'<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/279137-va-governor-order-restoring-voting-rights-to-felons-morally-the>

THE HILL // JESSIE HELLMANN

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) called his executive order that extends voting rights to more than 200,000 convicted felons “morally the right thing to do.” “They’re back in the community. They’ve served their debts to society. Why do we want people to continue to be second-class citizens?” McAuliffe said in an interview with radio show host John Catsimatidis that aired Sunday. Last month, McAuliffe issued the order that reverses Civil War-era provisions in Virginia’s Constitution. It only applies to convicted felons who have served their prison time and finished any parole. He said prohibiting felons from voting in the state mostly disenfranchises African-Americans. Maine and Vermont are the only two states without voting restrictions on felons. Virginia, Kentucky, Florida and Iowa are among the states that impose the harshest restrictions.

Police and Tech Giants Wrangle Over Encryption on Capitol Hill<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/09/technology/police-and-tech-giants-wrangle-over-encryption-on-capitol-hill.html?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // CECILIA KANG

Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the district attorney of Manhattan, visited Washington late last month to argue his case on a pressing issue: encryption. In a string of meetings with members of Congress, Mr. Vance told central lawmakers that encryption needed to be diminished during criminal investigations. During a 45-minute session with Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine who is on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mr. Vance said his office had 230 iPhones that might contain crucial information for cases but were useless because Apple refused to help the police break the encryption on the devices. “I wanted to express a sense of urgency around resolution of this issue,” Mr. Vance said in an interview about his Washington visit. A day after Mr. Vance was on Capitol Hill, tech executives including Kent Walker, the general counsel of Google, and Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, also met with lawmakers — but with a very different message on encryption. Tech executives at the meetings said they were concerned about any laws that would force companies to weaken the security of their technology, according to news officials representing these companies.

Democrats Intend to Turn Up Pressure on Charles Grassley Over Merrick Garland<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/05/09/democrats-intend-to-turn-up-pressure-on-charles-grassley-over-merrick-garland/>

NEW YORK TIMES // CARL HULSE

With the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Merrick B. Garland stalled, Senate Democrats and their allies in the advocacy community have some surprises in store this week for Senator Charles E. Grassley, the Iowa Republican who leads the Judiciary Committee and who has ignored calls to convene a hearing on the nomination. As the Senate returns from a week off, Democrats intend to step up efforts to make Mr. Grassley the poster boy for refusing to act on President Obama’s nomination of Judge Garland. Those efforts will include the release of a report critical of the work of the Judiciary Committee under Mr. Grassley. On Wednesday, Senate Democrats will host a news conference with a group of former Grassley supporters brought in from Iowa who have changed their views on the senator. They will also highlight polls showing that Mr. Grassley, who was thought to be breezing to a seventh term, has been hurt more than other Republicans by his position on Judge Garland, though he remains favored to win his race.

Republicans

Flake mulls Garland nomination if White House win is in doubt<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279160-gop-senator-senate-should-approve-garland-if-it-appears>

THE HILL // JESSIE HELLMANN

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said on Sunday that his colleagues should approve President Obama's Supreme Court nominee if it appears the Republican Party will lose the White House in November, softening his stance on Judge Merrick Garland, who was nominated by Obama to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. "If we come to a point, I've said all along, where we're going to lose the election, or we lose the election in November, then we ought to approve him quickly," Flake said on NBC's "Meet the Press."  "Because I'm certain that he'll be more conservative than a Hillary Clinton nomination come January."  Flake is one of the few Senate Republicans to have met with Garland and called him a "man of accomplishment" who has "keen intellect." The Arizona senator, however, had previously said the next president should pick the nominee.

GOP rallies around court blockade<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/gop-supreme-court-merrick-garland-222898>

POLITICO // BURGESS EVERETT

Democrats are getting badly outspent by their conservative rivals in the war over Merrick Garland’s confirmation, suggesting that President Barack Obama’s closest allies in the Supreme Court battle have more bark than bite. The Constitutional Responsibility Project — which is taking the lead in the Democratic PR push over the court — has spent about $150,000 on two ads knocking Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania for stonewalling Garland’s nomination, according to two media tracking sources. That’s a pittance compared to the Koch-affiliated Judicial Crisis Network, which has already spent $4.5 million to bolster vulnerable Republicans and attack moderate Democrats for urging action on Garland. The muscular spending from GOP-backed groups shows how dug-in conservatives are over their Garland blockade, and has helped keep almost all Senate Republicans moving in lockstep. Other than a series of perfunctory meetings with Republicans, parliamentary progress on Garland has been completely stopped. Now, with many Senate races shifting from primaries toward the general election, the battles for control of the Senate and filling the Supreme Court seat have become tightly intertwined.

Ted Cruz at a Crossroads as He Returns to the Senate<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/09/us/politics/ted-cruz-at-a-crossroads-as-he-returns-to-the-senate.html?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // JENNIFER STEINHAUER

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is expected to return to the Capitol this week, the last of four Republican senators battered and beaten by Donald J. Trump to trudge back to the world of meetings over cafeteria cod and roll call votes to name the national mammal. But Mr. Cruz’s return is more fraught with curiosity than those of the other three, Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida. He made it the furthest, winning 10 states and coming tantalizingly close to pushing Mr. Trump to a contested convention, only to drop out on the same day the billionaire developer suggested that Mr. Cruz’s father had conspired with Lee Harvey Oswald. The party’s presumptive nominee had also insulted Mr. Cruz’s wife, baselessly alluded to extramarital affairs and labeled him “Lyin’ Ted.” Now the man who helped create an outsider movement in national politics, only to have it eat him alive by the co-opter of that idea, must decide which group among his fellow lawmakers to join. Will he stand with the hold-your-nose set, as Mr. Paul has done, and support Mr. Trump? Or join forces with “Never Trump,” as Senator Graham did on Friday, and publicly decline to get on board?

Palin backing Ryan's challenger<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279141-palin-ryan-disrespected-the-american-people-in>

THE HILL // KYLE BALLUCK

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) said in an interview to be broadcast Sunday that it was “not a wise decision” for Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to withhold his support for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. “His political career is over but for a miracle, because he has so disrespected the American people,” Palin said of Ryan on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “It kind of screws his chances for the 2020 presidential bid that he’s gunning for,” she said. Paul, former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s 2012 running mate, said last Thursday he is “just not ready” to support the real estate mogul. “I think Paul Ryan is soon to be ‘Cantored,’ as in Eric Cantor,” Palin, who ran with John McCain on the Republican ticket in 2008, added. Cantor, the former House majority leader, lost his primary bid in Virginia in 2014. “I will do whatever I can for Paul Nehlen,” Palin said of Ryan’s primary challenger.

Sarah Palin says Paul Ryan will soon be ‘Cantored’<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/08/sarah-palin-says-paul-ryan-will-soon-be-cantored/>

WASHINGTON POST // SEAN SULLIVAN

Sarah Palin said in a television interview broadcast Sunday that she will support Speaker Paul Ryan's primary challenger, and she compared Ryan to former House majority leader Eric Cantor (Va.), who was stunningly defeated in a 2014 primary. "I think Paul Ryan is soon to be 'Cantored,'" Palin said on CNN's "State of the Union." Cantor lost his primary to now-Rep. Dave Brat. Palin, a former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, backs Donald Trump for president. Ryan said this week that he is not ready to support Trump — even though he is the presumptive GOP nominee. Trump and Ryan are slated to meet this week. His political career is over but for a miracle, because he has so disrespected the will of the people ... and for him to already come out and say who he will not support was not a wise decision of his," Palin added of Ryan.

GOP likely to revoke Nevada's early-state status<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/nevada-gop-early-state-status-222929>

POLITICO // KYLE CHENEY

Nevada is likely to lose its place as the first Western state to vote in the Republican presidential nomination contest, several GOP leaders tell POLITICO. For three successive elections, the state has been grouped in the vaunted class of early-voting states, joining Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina as the bellwethers that garner the most attention from presidential candidates and help winnow voters’ choices. But for the third straight primary season, Nevada’s caucuses have been wracked by embarrassing procedural errors, low turnout, confusion among attendees and questions about the integrity of the process. Republican National Committee members say there’s growing momentum behind an effort to strip Nevada of its early place in line — handing it instead to either Colorado or Arizona. “The long knives are out for Nevada,” said one RNC committeeman. “Nevada does nothing for us.” The review of the state’s pecking order is likely to be just one piece of the GOP’s wholesale review of a nominating process that just produced one of the most acrimonious primary seasons in memory and ended with Donald Trump as the party’s nominee.

McConnell faces tough decision on criminal justice bill<http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/279082-mcconnell-faces-tough-decision-on-criminal-justice-bill>

THE HILL // JORDAIN CARNEY

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is under increasing pressure to bring up a revised criminal justice bill despite staunch opposition from conservatives in his own caucus. The Republican leader has been careful not to take a side on the legislation, even though his second-in-command, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), is one of the bill’s chief supporters. The normally tight-lipped McConnell will need to walk a fine line as he weighs his decision: Is it worth potentially netting another bipartisan victory ahead of the election — when Republicans have to defend 24 Senate seats — if it would put divisions within his own party under a spotlight? In addition to vocal pushback from a handful of GOP senators — including firebrands such as Tom Cotton (Ark.) and Ted Cruz (Texas) — it could put Senate Republicans on a collision course with Donald Trump. The GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee, not known for policy specifics, hasn’t weighed in on the Senate’s bill; however, his previous law-and-order leanings are at odds with the legislation.

NC governor: Feds gave us 'unrealistic' bathroom law deadline<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/279150-nc-governor-federal-gov-gave-us-unrealistic-deadline-to-respond>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) said the federal government gave the state an "unrealistic" deadline to respond to a letter informing him that the state's bathroom law violates the Civil Rights Act.  "They gave the ninth-largest state in the United States ... three working days to respond to a pretty complex letter and to a pretty big threat," McCrory said on "Fox News Sunday." "We don't think three working days is enough to respond to such a threat." McCrory said he asked for an extension on Friday. The Justice Department sent a letter to the governor that says the law violates protections against workplace discrimination based on sex. It gave the governor until Monday to confirm "that the State will not comply with or implement HB2." Many people in support of LGBT rights condemned the law in North Carolina, which requires transgender people to use public bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex. McCrory said in an interview Sunday that the Justice Department agreed to give a one-week extension if the governor admits that the language in the bathroom law does discriminate.

In Arizona Senate Race, McCain Contends With Trump’s Influence<http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-arizona-senate-race-mccain-contends-with-trumps-influence-1462754947>

WALL STREET JOURNAL // KRISTINA PETERSON
Sen. John McCain walked into Ping Inc.’s headquarters on a campaign stop here last week and immediately thanked the Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants who help manufacture its golf clubs. “I’m grateful that you all are here,” he said. “That’s what America is all about.” Minutes later the Arizona Republican reiterated his support for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, whose militant immigration stance has polarized voters, particularly in border states such as Arizona. “I support the nominee of the party,” Mr. McCain said, while predicting the state’s voters would separate his record from the businessman’s provocative stances. “I’m running my own campaign and the people of Arizona know me.” Mr. McCain entered his campaign for a sixth Senate term as the clear favorite in a state that has elected him for more than three decades. But the party’s 2008 presidential nominee is now almost certain to be in the difficult position of running on the GOP ticket below a man who has clashed with him on immigration, national security, torture and even diminished his time as a prisoner of war.

North Carolina Governor Won’t Concede That Transgender Law Is Biased<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/09/us/north-carolina-governor-wont-concede-that-bias-law-discriminates.html?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // ALAN BLINDER

Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina is expected to respond on Monday to the Justice Department’s warning that a new state law limiting the rights of transgender people is illegal, after he and the federal government failed to reach an agreement that would have allowed him to postpone his reply. Mr. McCrory said that he could not assent to the Justice Department’s condition for a one-week extension — an acknowledgment by him that the law is discriminatory — and would answer by 5 p.m. on Monday. “I’m not going to publicly announce that something discriminates, which is agreeing with their letter, because we’re really talking about a letter in which they’re trying to define gender identity, and there is no clear definition of gender identity,” Mr. McCrory, a Republican who is seeking re-election this year, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “It’s the federal government being a bully.” The governor said that he was “discussing all of our legal options, all of our political options,” and he appeared to rule out the possibility that he would take some kind of independent action to undo the law, or at least limit its enforcement, as some people have suggested.

For Merrick Garland and Republicans, a Tango of Praise and Rejection<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/10/us/politics/for-merrick-garland-and-republicans-a-tango-of-praise-and-rejection.html>

NEW YORK TIMES // EMMARIE HUETTEMAN
Unfailingly punctual, he enters the office without a word. He shakes hands with staff members who rise hastily from their desks, and studies the home state curios on the walls. He is ushered in behind closed doors, and within the hour he leaves as quietly as he came, occasionally slipping out a back exit with his retinue. Then comes the statement, from one Republican senator after another: I had a pleasant visit with Judge Merrick B. Garland. He is an intelligent, talented jurist. However, I cannot support considering his nomination to the Supreme Court. With this tango of praise and rejection, the once sacrosanct process of filling a Supreme Court seat has taken a surreal turn. In the past, even eyebrow-raising nominees received a hearing and a vote. But Senate Republican leaders have said for nearly two months that Judge Garland, a relatively uncontroversial nominee, will get neither. White House officials have not blinked in this staring contest. They have scheduled meetings with any senator who will return their messages — 46 to date, including 14 Republicans. This to-and-fro has left Judge Garland, broadly regarded as a leading legal mind, looking a little like the earnest leaflet-clutching visitors who hope to raise awareness for their cause and grab a sandwich in the Senate cafeteria. The situation seems poised to grow only more complicated, with Donald J. Trump wearing the fire-engine-red baseball cap of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

2016 Democrats

Decision time for FBI on Clinton<http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/279077-decision-time-for-fbi-on-clinton>

THE HILL // JULIAN HATTEM

The FBI investigation swirling around Hillary Clinton’s presidential run appears to have entered its final stages. Many of the former secretary of State’s top aides have been interviewed over the course of the last month, and Clinton herself is expected to answer investigators’ questions about her use of a private email server in the coming days or weeks. Former officials and legal experts say the Democratic front-runner's testimony will likely be the final puzzle piece for federal prosecutors and FBI investigators as they decide whether to file any charges over her use of a personal email server while secretary of State.  “This certainly sends the signal that they are nearing an end to their investigation,” said Steven Levin, a former federal prosecutor and current partner at the law firm Levin & Curlett. Though FBI officials have said Clinton is not the target of the probe, they would want to be as prepared as possible before going in to interview her, Levin said.

The year of the hated: Clinton and Trump, two intensely disliked candidates, begin their face-off<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-year-of-the-hated-clinton-and-trump-two-intensely-disliked-candidates-begin-their-face-off/2016/05/08/76a87ce2-13bd-11e6-8967-7ac733c56f12_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // DAVID WEIGEL

In the end, it was the voters of Indiana last week who effectively gave the country the outcome that had loomed for months. The 2016 election will likely put Hillary Clinton, who is disliked by a majority of voters, against Donald Trump, disliked by another and more intense majority of voters. If the rise of Trump has no obvious precedent, neither does an election like this. Clinton, whose buoyant favorable ratings in the State Department convinced some Democrats that she could win easily, is now viewed as unfavorably as George W. Bush was in his close 2004 reelection bid. Trump is even less liked, with negative ratings among nonwhite voters not seen since the 1964 campaign of Barry Goldwater. “In the history of polling, we’ve basically never had a candidate viewed negatively by half of the electorate,” wrote Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) in a widely shared note that asked someone, anyone, to mount a third-party run. “There are dumpster fires in my town more popular than these two ‘leaders.’ ”

Clinton: No contact from FBI in email server investigation<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279143-clinton-no-contact-from-fbi-in-email-server-investigation>

THE HILL // KYLE BALLUCK

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said in an interview broadcast Sunday that she has not been in contact with the FBI over its investigation into the private email server she used while secretary of State. “No one has reached out to me yet, but last summer, I think last August, I made it clear I'm more than ready to talk to anybody, anytime,” she said on CBS’s “Face the Nation. “And I've encouraged … all of … my assistants … to be … very forthcoming. And I hope that this is close to being wrapped up.” “So nobody said, ‘Hillary Clinton, we'd like to sit down and talk to you’ from the FBI?” host John Dickerson asked. “Not at this point,” Clinton responded. Many of the former secretary of State’s top aides have been interviewed in the past few weeks, as the FBI investigation appears to have entered its final stages. Clinton herself is expected to answer questions in the coming days or weeks. Clinton said she would tell voters concerned about the issues what she has said “for many, many months.”

Clinton Threads Needle With Pitches to Sanders Fans, Republicans<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-08/clinton-threads-needle-with-pitches-to-sanders-fans-republicans>

BLOOMBERG // BEN BRODY

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said she sees “a great role” for Bernie Sanders and his supporters in a “unified party," even as she said she welcomed Republicans who are not supporting presumptive nominee Donald Trump.  Days after Trump’s remaining Republican competitors exited the race, the former secretary of state continues to battle for her party’s nomination against the Vermont senator, who has taken several positions to her left on economic issues. “Obviously I'm reaching out to Democrats, Republicans, independents, all voters who want a candidate who is running a campaign based on issues,” Clinton said in an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” broadcast on Sunday.  Clinton said she and Sanders have similar views on issues, including raising the minimum wage and reining “in bad actors on Wall Street and in corporate America."  She said she wants to unify Democrats around those issues.  “I see a great role and opportunity for him and his supporters to be part of that unified party to move into not just November to win the election against Donald Trump, but to then govern based on the progressive goals that he and I share,” she said.

Hillary Clinton Says She Is Available for F.B.I. Interviews Over Emails<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/05/08/hillary-clinton-says-she-is-available-for-f-b-i-interviews-over-emails/?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // ALEXANDER BURNS

Hillary Clinton said Sunday that the F.B.I. had not asked to interview her as part of its inquiry into her use of a personal email server as secretary of state. But Mrs. Clinton reiterated on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that she would make herself available to law enforcement officials as necessary. The investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s email practices and her handling of classified intelligence has shadowed her presidential campaign, and CNN reported last week that she was likely to be interviewed soon by the F.B.I. Mrs. Clinton said on Sunday that no meeting had been requested or scheduled. “No one has reached out to me yet,” she said, adding, “I made it clear that I’m more than ready to talk to anybody, anytime, and I’ve encouraged all of my assistants to be very forthcoming.” As she has done in the past, Mrs. Clinton said she had erred in setting up a private email server but said she “always took classified material seriously.” But Mrs. Clinton also sought to turn around the scrutiny she was facing, arguing that it was time for the Republican candidate Donald J. Trump to face similar examination. Mr. Trump, she noted, had not released his tax returns, as is customary for presidential candidates.

For Clinton, beating Trump isn't a slam dunk<http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/08/opinions/for-clinton-beating-trump-isnt-a-slam-dunk-opinion-zelizer/>

CNN // JULIAN ZELIZER

There are many reasons why Democrats should feel good about the election now that Donald Trump is the Republican nominee. Even before GOP voters went for Trump, the Electoral College math tended to favor the Democrats. Republicans will be playing catch up. Trump has also deeply divided the Republican Party, with many of the most prominent leaders refusing to endorse him. Usually when parties divide this badly they lose. Unlike almost any other Republican in the current age of polarization, Trump has the potential to generate a backlash of Republican voters against their own party, causing them to either stay home on Election Day or, even worse for the party, consider voting for the Democratic nominee. Yet with all of these advantages, Democrats should be extremely careful about becoming overconfident. There are many reasons that Democrats should fear Trump and anticipate a campaign that is much closer and much tougher than they are expecting.

For Clinton, the general election is about married women. Starting in swing-state Virginia.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-launches-general-election-swing-in-va-with-a-big-focus-on-women/2016/05/08/78f4f6e2-14cb-11e6-81b4-581a5c4c42df_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // ANNE GEARAN

In the fight for the votes of suburban women, there is no more representative place than Loudoun County, the ticket-splitting bedroom community in swing-state Virginia that Hillary Clinton will visit Monday — and no better foil for her argument, perhaps, than Donald Trump. Affluent suburban women are a key audience for Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, as she seeks to use Trump’s polarizing statements about women, immigrants and others against him. Clinton will hold a discussion about jobs, schools and other concerns in a bellwether county that narrowly supported President Obama’s reelection in 2012 and helped elect a Republican critic of Obama, Rep. Barbara Comstock, to Congress two years later. Comstock has disavowed Trump but isn’t backing Clinton. The presidential candidate is hoping that women who think much as Comstock does about national security, the role of government and women’s equality will make that leap, though, and help her win Virginia.

Financial Sector Gives Hillary Clinton a Boost<http://www.wsj.com/articles/financial-sector-gives-hillary-clinton-a-boost-1462750725>

WALL STREET JOURNAL // BRODY MULLINS AND REBECCA BALLHAUS

Hillary Clinton is consolidating her support among Wall Street donors and other businesses ahead of a general-election battle with Donald Trump, winning more campaign contributions from financial-services executives in the most recent fundraising period than all other candidates combined. The Democratic front-runner has raised $4.2 million in total from Wall Street, $344,000 of which was contributed in March alone. According to a Wall Street Journal analysis of fundraising data provided by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, the former secretary of state received 53% of the donations from Wall Street in March, up from 32% last year and 33% in January through February, as the nominating contests began. The analysis of campaign-finance reports shows that some Wall Street donors have shifted their financial support from Republican candidates who dropped out of the race, such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, to Mrs. Clinton in recent months.

Clinton explains 'loose cannon' attack on Trump<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/hillary-clinton-loose-cannon-donald-trump-222936>

POLITICO // AUSTIN WRIGHT

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton explained her oft-repeated line that Donald Trump is a “loose cannon” in a pre-taped interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that focused much more on the presumptive GOP nominee than Democratic rival Bernie Sanders. “Being a loose cannon means saying that other nations should go ahead and acquire nuclear weapons for themselves — when that is the last thing we need in the world today,” Clinton said in the interview, airing Sunday. “Being a loose cannon is saying we should pull out of NATO — the strongest military alliance in the history of the world, and something that we really need to modernize, but not abandon.” Clinton was referencing remarks Trump has made suggesting Japan and South Korea should develop their own nuclear weapons rather than relying on the United States to defend them against North Korea. Trump has also questioned the continued existence of NATO, calling the 28-nation alliance “obsolete.”

Clinton: Trump’s GOP critics ‘respect’ the office<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279142-clinton-trumps-gop-critics-respect-the-office>

THE HILL // KYLE BALLUCK

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said in an interview broadcast Sunday that Republican criticism of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is not “personal” but “rooted in” critics’ “respect for the office.” “I have to say the Republicans themselves are raising questions about their presumptive nominee. And I think that's in large measure ... because they do understand how hard the job of being president is,” Clinton told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “When you have former presidents, when you have high-ranking Republican officials in Congress raising questions about their nominee, I don't think it's personal so much as rooted in their respect for the office and their deep concern about what kind of leader he would be.” Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) last Thursday said he is “just not ready” to support Trump, who became the presumptive nominee with a win in Indiana’s primary, knocking rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich out of the race. Other high-profile Republicans have vowed never to back the real estate mogul.

Clinton camp: Trump's tax plan would overwhelmingly benefit wealthiest<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279170-clinton-camp-trumps-tax-plan-would-overwhelmingly-benefit>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton's campaign on Sunday slammed Donald Trump's tax plan, saying it would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans. "Don't believe Donald Trump's weak attempts at a general election 'makeover' for even a second," Clinton's deputy communications director, Christina Reynolds, said in a statement. "Trump's economic plans take direct aim at working Americans — his proposal to cut trillions in taxes for the top one percent would almost certainly come at the expense of working and middle class families. Americans just can’t afford Trump’s economic plans." Citizens for Tax Justice said under Trump's proposed tax plan, the top 1 percent of Americans would get 34 percent of the tax cuts, according to a release. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said the presumptive GOP nominee's plan would create "extremely large and unprecedented tax-cut windfalls" for millionaires which would come "almost certainly" at the expense of low and middle income households. Trump said an interview broadcast Sunday there will be changes to his tax plan after negotiations.

Clinton’s wonky policies of fine-grained complexity contrast with rivals’ grandiose ideas<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clintons-wonky-policies-of-fine-grained-complexity-contrast-with-rivals-grandiose-ideas/2016/05/08/7a6f4b66-10a3-11e6-93ae-50921721165d_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // DAVID A. FAHRENTHOLD

Hillary Clinton’s official campaign platform is now twice as long as “Hamlet”: seventy-three thousand six hundred forty-five words of policy ideas. One hundred seventy-four pages. And growing. But, at its heart, this wordy list amounts to a statement of Clinton’s confidence in two things. The status quo. And the federal bureaucracy. The other two candidates left in this presidential race want to overhaul American government. Clinton mainly wants to tinker with its parts. In many cases, her plans involve adding small — but intricate — new tasks for the bureaucracy, designed to make government smarter, more generous and more just. To crack down on Wall Street, for instance, Clinton would expand a particular regulatory form. The form already is 42 pages long and can require up to 300 hours to fill out.  If Congress doesn’t overhaul immigration, Clinton’s plan is to allow undocumented residents to walk into local federal offices and ask for help. Already-busy bureaucrats — armed with guidelines that nobody has written yet — would make millions of new decisions about who can stay. This approach says a lot about Clinton’s worldview, after 23 years in and around Washington. To her, complexity is realism.

Oil magnate: 'I'm amused' by Clinton wanting to move away from fossil fuels<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/279138-oil-magnate-im-amused-by-clinton-wanting-to-move-away-from>

THE HILL // EVELYN RUPERT

Oil mogul T. Boone Pickens slammed Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton for her saying she wants to move the country away from fossil fuels. “I’m amused when I hear last night Hillary Clinton says we are going to get rid of coal. We’re going to get rid of all fossil fuels,” Pickens said in an interview with radio host John Catsimatidis that aired Sunday. “You want to stop the music at that point and say, ‘Look, what are you going to replace it with?’ She has no idea.” Clinton has said the U.S. should “move away” from coal and all the other fossil fuels. “You get rid of fossil fuels, and you’ll stop the world,” Pickens said. “That’s the only thing that’s going to move that 18-wheeler, is diesel or natural gas.”

Dem convention host: Sanders supporters better 'behave themselves' when he loses<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/dem-primaries/279136-democratic-national-convention-chair-sanders-supporters-better>

THE HILL // HARPER NEIDIG

The chairman of the Philadelphia 2016 Host Committee for this summer’s Democratic National Convention said supporters of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders have to “behave themselves” when the Vermont senator loses the nomination. During a radio interview with John Catsimatidis, Ed Rendell, a former Pennsylvania governor and Democratic National Committee chairman, laid out his vision for how the convention would play out.  “I think it’s gonna be a great convention, but of course the key to it is the Sanders people. Bernie’s gonna have his name placed in nomination; we’re gonna have a roll call; there’s gonna be a demonstration in support of Bernie; he’s gonna lose the roll call,” he said. “His supporters have to behave and not cause trouble. And I think they will, and I think Sen. Sanders will send them a strong message.” Sanders is trailing Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton by 774 total delegates. Clinton is just 155 delegates from clinching the nomination.

Democrats, don’t celebrate Trump’s nomination. Fear it.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/democrats-dont-celebrate-trumps-nomination-fear-it/2016/05/08/0ce784e4-13a7-11e6-93ae-50921721165d_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // FRED HIATT

I know the polls say Donald Trump cannot win. But what if we are looking at the wrong poll question? What if Trump’s overwhelming negatives don’t matter? Or, to put it another way, what if the country’s negatives matter more? Right now, about 6 in 10 Americans have an unfavorable view of Trump, and only 36 percent view him positively. But the country is faring even worse. In the most recent average of polls calculated by RealClearPolitics, 26.9 percent of Americans think the nation is headed in the right direction and 64.9 percent think we are heading down the wrong track. So what if even voters who respect Hillary Clinton’s competence reject her as the embodiment of business as usual? And what if even voters who do not like Trump’s bigotry or bluster care more that he will, in their view, shake things up? Sure, these voters might tell themselves, he may be crude, or inconsistent, or ill-informed. He may insult women and Hispanics and other groups. But it’s part of a shtick. He probably doesn’t mean half of it. He’s just an entertainer. The desire to send a message of disgust or disapproval, in other words, could lead voters to overlook, discount, wish away or excuse many Trump sins.

Clinton's Bid for Democratic Unity a Tough Sell Among Some Sanders Supporters<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-09/clinton-s-bid-for-democratic-unity-a-tough-sell-among-some-sanders-supporters>

BLOOMBERG // MARGARET TALEV AND ARIT JOHN

With every pledge to unify the Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton is acknowledging one of her biggest challenges between now and  November: getting millions of Bernie Sanders' fans to give her their votes. The Clinton campaign is still trying to figure out exactly what Sanders wants in exchange for rallying his supporters to her side. In recent weeks, he’s suggested that Clinton can’t expect them to just fall in line, but he hasn’t enumerated exactly what he believes would draw them in. He hasn’t said which of his policy positions is most important for her to adopt or at least shift closer toward, or what other moves she could make that would satisfy him. With 13 nominating contests still to go, and Sanders vowing to fight on, Clinton's campaign is taking a soft-sell approach, and waiting for a clear signal of intentions from the Vermont Senator.

GOP operatives on the prowl for secret Clinton transcripts<http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/279072-gop-operatives-on-the-prowl-for-secret-clinton-transcripts>

THE HILL // JONATHAN SWAN

Republican operatives are scouring the country for transcripts, notes or secret recordings of Hillary Clinton’s paid speeches to Goldman Sachs in hopes of finding damaging material for the general election. Clinton has rebuffed calls from Bernie Sanders to release the transcripts of her three speeches to the Wall Street giant, which she delivered in 2013 to the tune of $225,000 per appearance. She has repeatedly said she will release the transcripts of her paid speeches when all the presidential candidates agree to do so. Republican opposition researchers have taken matters into their own hands, aggressively seeking any information about the speeches, including from Goldman employees who were in the room.  Ian Prior, the communications director for the well-funded Republican group American Crossroads, said information about the Goldman Sachs speeches could prove cataclysmic for the Democratic Party. Finding and releasing the transcripts “would be a heck of a way to outflank Hillary on her left [in a general election] and stop Bernie’s supporters from voting for her,” he said. “Just mail the Goldman Sachs transcripts to every Bernie supporter. There’s your targeted mail program right there." Clinton’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Her team has never disputed that Clinton, as part of her contracts for the speeches, required that they not be taped in any form. The contracts also stated that the transcriptions would be kept solely in her possession. While the hunt for the transcripts is on, Republican operatives acknowledge they’ve come up empty so far.

2016 Republicans

Manafort: 'We have plenty of time to put the party together'<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279146-manafort-unrealistic-to-expect-everyone-to-come-togetherhttp:/thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279146-manafort-unrealistic-to-expect-everyone-to-come-together>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

Donald Trump's convention manager, Paul Manafort, said it will take time for the Republican Party to unite behind the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. "To expect everyone to come together the day after the primary process ended, it was a bit unrealistic," Manafort said in an interview on "Fox News Sunday." "But, frankly, I'm very pleased to say that it's happening even faster than we thought." Manafort said Republican leaders in Washington were saying a week ago there was going to be a contested convention. When Trump won the Indiana primary last Tuesday, he added, the race ended "much sooner than anybody expected, except maybe the people supporting Donald Trump." Following Trump's win, the candidate's former rivals, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, ended their presidential bids. "So Washington was in a little bit of an uncertain phase ... but it's a healing process that will happen over time," Manafort said. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said last week he was "just not ready" to support Trump. Several other Republican leaders have come out since and said they don't plan to support Trump as the nominee of their party.

The GOP’s electoral-map problem is not about Trump. It’s about demographics.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-gops-electoral-map-problem-is-not-about-trump-its-about-demographics/2016/05/08/14cdf1fc-1523-11e6-924d-838753295f9a_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // CHRIS CILLIZZA

Republicans have a major electoral-map problem in November. Major. Donald Trump’s victory last week in Indiana’s primary not only effectively sealed the GOP nomination for the real estate billionaire but also brought into sharp relief how difficult it will be for any Republican to get to 270 electoral votes and beat Hillary Clinton to become the 45th president this fall. Start here: Eighteen states plus the District of Columbia have voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every election between 1992 and 2012. Add them up, and you get 242 electoral votes. By contrast, 13 states have voted for the Republican presidential nominee in each of the past six elections. Total them up and you get 102 electoral votes. There are two important takeaways from these facts: The generic Democratic nominee starts with an electoral vote lead of 140, and the Democratic nominee needs to find only 28 votes beyond that reliable base to win the presidency.

Donald Trump breaks the GOP<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-breaks-the-gop-222939>

POLITICO // ELI STOKOLS

It was as shocking as it was predictable after a year of slow-motion build-up—the dramatic splitting apart of the Grand Old Party in the 72 hours after Donald Trump became its presumptive nominee. When asked Friday if the organization he now leads is officially Trump’s party, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus responded with pithy double-speak befitting this dystopian moment in our politics.  “It’s the party’s party,” Priebus said. Whatever party Priebus was speaking of is currently in tatters. There is no more denying that Trump will be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee. But there is still plenty of denial when it comes to accepting the more fundamental issue at hand: that the fractious coalition of conservatives that we used to know as the Republican Party is, after a decade of fraying ties between the Washington-based establishment and its base, is now comprised of two separate coalitions. There are those mainstream conservatives still tethered to the party's ideological history of limited government, free trade and a hawkish foreign policy; and there is the conservative base that is increasingly resentful of elites of all stripes, voters unmoored from ideology and drawn to Trump's charisma, fearlessness and a populist, angry brand of neo-nationalism.

‘There’s nobody left’: Evangelicals feel abandoned by GOP after Trump’s ascent<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/theres-nobody-left-evangelicals-feel-abandoned-by-gop-after-trumps-ascent/2016/05/08/a133991e-130f-11e6-8967-7ac733c56f12_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // KATIE ZEZIMA

Pastor Gary Fuller planned a Sunday service heavy on politics, including a speech by the pastor father of Sen. Ted Cruz. But after a week when Cruz abruptly dropped out of the race, his father scrapped his appearance here and Donald Trump became the Republican Party’s standard bearer, a dismayed Fuller kept the political portion short. “Vote according to your convictions,” Fuller told congregants at Gentle Shepherd Baptist Church who will cast ballots in Nebraska’s presidential primary Tuesday. “What you believe is the right thing to vote for, according to the scriptures.” Fuller told congregants that the church can’t and won't promote one candidate over another. But he has already cast an early ballot for Cruz and has a hard time stomaching Trump as the presumptive Republican nominee.  “In a sense, we feel abandoned by our party,” he said. “There’s nobody left.”

Johnson sees third-party candidacy as 'opportunity'<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/279155-johnson-says-he-sees-third-party-candidacy-as-opportunity>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson said in an interview on Sunday he sees a third-party candidacy as an opportunity, instead of as a threat. "Well, I think it is a real opportunity. I do think that [Hillary] Clinton and [Donald] Trump are the two most polarizing figures in politics today," Johnson, who is expected to win the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination later this year, said on ABC's "This Week." "And when 50 percent of Americans now declare themselves as independent, I happen to think that they're libertarian; it's just that they don't know it," he continued. "Look, fiscally responsible, fiscally conservative, small government and then individual choices — freedom, liberty. Persons should be making choices in their own lives, not the government." Johnson noted he doesn't think he'd take more votes from Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, than from Clinton, the Democratic front-runner. "It draws from both sides and — and at the end of the day, 50 percent of Americans say they're independent," he said.

Trump: Bush, Graham made a pledge<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-gop-pledge-nominee-222940>

POLITICO // AUSTIN WRIGHT

Presumptive GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump said two of his now-vanquished challengers, Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham, made pledges to support the eventual nominee — and their decisions not to endorse him were “a question of honor.” “Jeb Bush signed a pledge — a binding pledge,” Trump said in a pre-taped interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “Lindsey Graham signed a binding pledge that they would endorse. That they would support and endorse. That's what it says. Now they're breaking. You know, that's a question of honor.” In the interview airing Sunday, Trump also said he was “blindsided” by House Speaker Paul Ryan’s announcement last week that he wasn’t ready to endorse the real-estate mogul. “I was blindsided a little bit, because he spoke to me three weeks ago, and it was a very nice call, a very encouraging call,” Trump said. “And then all of a sudden, he gets on and he does this number. So I'm not exactly sure what he has in mind.”

Trump, who once opposed minimum-wage hike, says he would ‘like to see an increase’<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/08/trump-who-once-opposed-minimum-wage-hike-says-he-would-like-to-see-an-increase/>

WASHINGTON POST // SEAN SULLIVAN

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said in television interviews broadcast Sunday that he would like an increase in the minimum wage and that it is best that such a change happen at the state level. In the past, Trump has opposed upping the minimum wage. But in recent days, he has increasingly warmed to the idea. "I have seen what's going on, and I don't know how people make it on $7.25," said Trump on NBC's "Meet the Press," referencing the federal minimum hourly wage. "With that being said, I would like to see an increase of some magnitude, but I'd rather leave it to the states. Let the states decide." Speaking on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," the business mogul said, "I haven't decided in terms of numbers, but I think people have to get more."

Trump envisions changes to tax plan<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279152-trump-says-tax-plan-is-going-to-be-negotiated>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said in an interview broadcast Sunday that there will be changes to his tax plan after negotiations. "By the time it gets negotiated, it's going to be a different plan," Trump said on ABC's "This Week." According to the candidate's plan, the tax rate for the wealthiest people in the country would drop from 39.6 percent to 25 percent. But he said that would likely change. "On my plan, they're going down. But by the time it's negotiated, they'll go up," Trump said. "Look, when I'm negotiating with the Democrats, I'm putting in a plan. I'm putting in my optimum plan. It's going to be negotiated. ... It's not going to stay there. They're not going to say, 'There's your plan, let's approve it.' They're going to say, 'Let's see what we can do.' " He said the most important parts of his tax plan include lowering taxes on businesses and the middle class. He said he'll "try and keep everything," adding that the country is the "highest-taxed nation in the world."

Trump: My tax plan is negotiable<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-tax-plan-222945>

POLITICO // AUSTIN WRIGHT

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump said in an interview aired Sunday his tax plan was negotiable, explaining that taxes for the wealthy needed to “go up” — a stance that appears to contradict what’s in his plan. “For the wealthy, I think, frankly, it's going to go up. And you know what, it really should go up,” Trump said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” His said his tax plan, which would lower tax rates for the wealthiest Americans, would be the opening bid of a negotiation with Congress and that his numbers were a “floor.” “I have to negotiate now with senators and congressmen and lots of -- the fact that I put in a plan, it really is a floor,” he said. “That's what it is. Whether we like it or not. “We lower the number of brackets,” he continued. “We lower the taxes on the middle class, on business. And we lower the taxes on everybody, very substantially. But I have no illusions. I don't think that's going to be the final plan. Because they are going to come to me, including the Democrats and everybody else, they're going to come to me. They're going to want to negotiate.”

McCain: Trump could be a 'capable leader'<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/john-mccain-donald-trump-leader-222942>

POLITICO // AUSTIN WRIGHT

Sen. John McCain said in an interview aired Sunday he believes Donald Trump “could be a capable leader” and reiterated his stance that he will “support the nominee” of the Republican Party. The Arizona Republican seemed more resigned than ever to the fact that that nominee will be Trump. “You have to listen to the people that have chosen the nominee of our Republican Party,” McCain said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think it would be foolish to ignore them.” But McCain, who was the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, said he still had some reservations about Trump, including the insults he hurls at political opponents. “I have never seen a personalization of a campaign like this one, where people's integrity and character are questioned,” McCain said. “It bothers me a lot. You can violently almost disagree with someone on an issue, but to attack their character and integrity — those wounds take a long time to heal.” Asked whether he would appear at campaign events with Trump, McCain said a lot of things would have to happen first, including Trump retracting a statement he made about U.S. prisoners of war. Last July, the real-estate mogul said McCain was “not a war hero” for the five-and-a-half years he spent as a prisoner during the Vietnam War.

Trump rejects federal floor on minimum wage<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279162-trump-on-minimum-wage-people-should-get-more>

THE HILL // JESSIE HELLMANN

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said he supports a higher minimum wage, but said he thinks the decision should be left to state governments. "I don't know how people make it on $7.25 an hour. Now, with that being said, I would like to see an increase of some magnitude," the billionaire said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "But I'd rather leave it to the states. Let the states decide." He said he wouldn't support a federal minimum wage "floor." "I'd rather have the states go out and do what they have to do," Trump said. "And the states compete with each other, not only other countries, but they compete with each other.  "So I like the idea of let the states decide, but I think people should get more," Trump said. "I think they're out there. They're working. It is a very low number."

Donald Trump Won’t Rule Out Effort to Remove Paul Ryan as Convention Chairman<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/05/08/trump-wont-rule-out-effort-to-remove-ryan-as-convention-chairman/?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // ALEXANDER BURNS

Donald J. Trump said he would not rule out an effort to remove Representative Paul D. Ryan as chairman of the Republican National Convention if he did not endorse Mr. Trump’s candidacy. Mr. Trump stopped short of calling for Mr. Ryan, the speaker of the House, to step down from his convention role. But in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Mr. Trump said there could be consequences in the event that Mr. Ryan continued withholding his support. “I will give you a very solid answer, if that happens, about one minute after that happens, O.K.?” Mr. Trump said. “There’s no reason to give it right now, but I’ll be very quick with the answer.” Mr. Trump has shown little interest over the last few days in placating his critics inside the party, including Mr. Ryan. Mr. Ryan, a representative from Wisconsin, said on Thursday that he was not ready to endorse Mr. Trump, citing reservations about his political style and policy agenda. The two men are scheduled to meet privately in Washington next week.

Trump ramps up attack, turns to Bill Clinton's impeachment<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279140-trump-ramps-up-attack-turning-to-bill-clintons>

THE HILL // KYLE BALLUCK

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump late Saturday ramped up his latest line of attack on Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, turning to former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment. "She's married to a man who got impeached for lying," Trump told supporters in Spokane, Wash. "He was impeached, and he had to go through a whole big process, and it wasn't easy. He was impeached for lying about what happened with a woman," he added. Trump said the former secretary of State was an “enabler” who “treated these women horribly.” "Some of those women were destroyed … by the way Hillary Clinton treated them after it went down," he said.  “There is nobody that has more respect for women than me," said Trump, who is under pressure to repair his poor standing among female voters and stave off potential attacks from Clinton.

Trump: 'I don't know how people make it on $7.25 an hour' <http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-minimum-wage-222943>

POLITICO // AUSTIN WRIGHT

Donald Trump said in an interview aired Sunday he wants to see the minimum wage increased but would rather it be done by the states than the federal government. The presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s openness to increases in the minimum wage is a reversal from his previous stance that the minimum wage should not be raised, including when he famously pronounced during a debate last year that wages were “too high.” On NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Trump said his reversal was the result of traveling around the country talking to working-class people. “I have seen what's going on,” he said. “And I don't know how people make it on $7.25 an hour. Now, with that being said, I would like to see an increase of some magnitude. But I'd rather leave it to the states. Let the states decide.”

Aide: Trump won't allow 'hypocrisy' on the 'women's issue'<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279149-manafort-trump-has-made-it-clear-hes-not-going-to-let>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

Donald Trump's convention manager, Paul Manafort, said the presumptive GOP presidential nominee won't let Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton make the claim that he's against women. "Donald Trump has made it very clear," Manafort said on "Fox News Sunday." "He's not going to allow hypocrisy on the women's issue. He's not going to let Hillary make the case that he's against women and she's this defender of women's rights." Manafort touted Trump's hiring of women for leadership positions in his business empire.  "He is not anti-women. He's very pro-women ... pro-women more so than her because he's pro-women with actions, not words," Manafort said. "And so for her to go after him on being anti-women — he's going to go back and talk about some of the things that she did that are less consistent as far as being pro-women," he said. He also defended Trump's response to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who last week slammed Trump, saying she would "fight my heart out" to stop his "toxic stew of hatred and insecurity" from getting to the White House.

GOP senator: Trump should 'soften' position on Muslims<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279156-gop-senator-trump-should-soften-view-on-muslims>

THE HILL // JESSIE HELLMANN

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) is calling on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to soften his position on Muslims, saying a ban is "unconstitutional."  "He's got to soften his position there," Flake said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday. "I mean, a total and complete ban on Muslims — that is a religious test that is certainly against the Constitution.  "And it is the last thing we should do if we want to win a war on terrorism," Flake said. "So it's constitutionally wrong, and also, strategically, it's just not a smart thing to do."  Trump last Wednesday doubled down on the ban, saying he doesn't care if it hurts him in the general election.  "I don't care if it hurts me. I'm doing the right thing when I do this. And whether it's Muslim or whether it's something else, I mean, I have to do the right thing, and that's the way I've been guided," Trump said.  Flake has been critical of Trump, calling some of his positions "nutty" and "difficult to swallow."

McCain: GOP would be 'foolish' to ignore voters<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279148-mccain-it-would-be-foolish-for-gop-to-ignore-voters>

THE HILL // JESSIE HELLMANN

John McCain chastised Republican leaders for not backing presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, saying Sunday that the voters have spoken. "You have to listen to people that have chosen the nominee of our Republican Party," the Arizona senator and 2008 GOP nominee said on CNN's "State of the Union." "I think it would be foolish to ignore them."  Responding to comments from Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), both of whom have refused to back Trump thus far, McCain said there's a disconnect between party leaders and the electorate.  "You have to draw the conclusion that there is some distance, if not a disconnect, between party leaders and members of Congress and the many voters who have selected Donald Trump to be the nominee of the party," McCain said.

McCain: Trump needs to apologize to POWs<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279147-mccain-trump-needs-to-apologize-to-pows>

THE HILL // JESSIE HELLMANN

John McCain, the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee, said Sunday that Donald Trump could be a capable president, but that the billionaire needs to "heal many of the wounds" he opened during his tumultuous campaign.  "I think it's obvious there has to be outreach on his part to heal many of the wounds," the Arizona senator said on CNN's "State of the Union." "Frankly, I have never seen ... a campaign like this one, where people's integrity and character are questioned. "That bothers me a lot. It bothers me a lot because you can violently disagree with someone on an issue, but to attack their character and integrity, those wounds take a long time to heal." One group that needs an apology, McCain said, are prisoners of war.  Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, sparked criticism when he mocked McCain's military service last summer, saying, "I like people who weren't captured."

Donald Trump’s Warning to Paul Ryan Signals Further G.O.P. Discord<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/09/us/politics/donald-trumps-warning-to-paul-ryan-signals-further-gop-discord.html?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // JEREMY W. PETERS

The widening rift in the Republican Party grew deeper on Sunday and threatened to upset the July convention as Donald J. Trump refused to rule out removing Paul D. Ryan, the speaker of the House, as the convention’s chairman. Mr. Trump’s warning was his latest affront to Republicans who have urged him to adopt a more cooperative and unifying tone. And it amounted to an extraordinary escalation in tensions between the party’s presumptive nominee and its highest-ranking officeholder. In a series of television interviews that aired Sunday, Mr. Trump demonstrated little interest in making peace with party leaders like Mr. Ryan who have called on him to more convincingly lay out his commitment to the issues and ideas that have animated the conservative movement for the last generation. “I’m going to do what I have to do — I have millions of people that voted for me,” Mr. Trump said on ABC’s “This Week.” “So I have to say true to my principles also. And I’m a conservative, but don’t forget, this is called the Republican Party. It’s not called the Conservative Party.”

Trump 'blindsided' by Ryan's comments<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279144-trump-blindsided-by-ryans-comments>

THE HILL // KYLE BALLUCK

Donald Trump said in an interview early Sunday he was “blindsided” by Speaker Paul Ryan’s comments that he is not ready to support the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. “I mean, to be honest, I like Paul Ryan,” Trump said on NBC’s "Meet the Press." “I think he's a very good guy. He called me three weeks ago, and he was so supportive. It was amazing. And I never thought a thing like this. “I'm never stunned by anything that happens in politics,” he added. “Yeah, I was blindsided a little bit, because he spoke to me three weeks ago, and it was a very nice call, a very encouraging call. I was doing well. He called me, I think, to congratulate me about New York, 'cause I won by massive numbers. I won everything. And then the next week, I won the five states in a row by all landslide numbers.” Trump said he has a “nice relationship” with the Wisconsin Republican, adding that he is “not exactly sure what he has in mind.” Trump would not say whether he thinks Ryan should be the chairman of the Republican National Convention this July if he can’t support the billionaire.

John McCain Demands Donald Trump Make Amends to Veterans<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/05/08/john-mccain-demands-donald-trump-apologize-to-veterans/?ref=politics&_r=0>

NEW YORK TIMES // ALEXANDER BURNS

Senator John McCain of Arizona called on Donald J. Trump to make amends to veterans for his belittling comments about prisoners of war and suggested he would be unlikely to appear on a stage with Mr. Trump until that happened. Mr. McCain has committed to supporting Mr. Trump as the Republican nominee for president. But in an interview that aired on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Mr. McCain expressed deep dismay at the tenor of the Republican presidential race, saying Mr. Trump make amends to “a body of American heroes” he had offended. Mr. Trump mocked Mr. McCain last summer for having been captured and imprisoned during the Vietnam War, saying that he preferred “people who weren’t captured.” Mr. McCain, who was the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, told CNN that he was personally indifferent to Mr. Trump’s ridicule but that he could not abide the affront to veterans in general. Asked if he would appear on the campaign trail with Mr. Trump, Mr. McCain said “a lot of things would have to happen” first.

Veterans call on Trump to show respect<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/279173-veterans-release-statement-calling-on-trump-to-show-respect>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

More than 50 veterans released a statement Sunday calling on presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump to show respect for the country's veterans and donate the millions of dollars he allegedly raised during a fundraiser several months ago. “Donald Trump recently discovered a new love for America’s veterans, promising that a Trump administration will ‘treat them really, really well,’" the statement released by Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's campaign said. "Yet after a publicity stunt earlier this year when he ditched a GOP debate to hold an event on behalf of veterans, his campaign still hasn’t distributed more than half of the $6 million dollars it allegedly raised." The statement signed by veterans, including Democratic Reps. Ruben Gallego and Seth Moulton, said Trump's campaign doesn't even know where the money raised during that event went. Earlier this year, Trump skipped the seventh Republican presidential debate over disagreements with the host network, Fox News. Instead, he held a fundraiser for raise money for military veterans. A report in March said Trump had donated less than half of the $6 million he raised for military veterans during the late January fundraiser. About $3 million was given to 24 charities the presumptive nominee chose, according to the report.

Palin: 'I don't want to be a burden on the ticket'<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279145-palin-im-as-vetted-as-anyone-to-be-vp>

THE HILL // JESSIE HELLMANN

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Sunday she likely wouldn't consider being presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's running mate.  "Well, I want to help and not hurt, and I am such a realist that I realize there are a whole lot of people out there who would say 'anybody but Palin,' " Palin said on CNN's "State of the Union." Palin, who ran on the 2008 ticket with GOP nominee John McCain, said she thinks many would see her candidacy as a burden. "I don't want to be a burden on the ticket, and I realize in many eyes, I would be a burden," she said. "I just want the guy to win, and I don't know if I would be the person to help him win."  When asked if she would consider being vetted by the Trump campaign for the position, she said she thinks she's "pretty much as vetted as anybody in the country could be vetted already."  "I think there are so many great people in America who could serve in this country [as vice president.]"

Trump: Romney is ungrateful for my help in 2012<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279151-trump-romney-is-ungrateful-for-my-help-in-2012>

THE HILL // JESSIE HELLMANN
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Sunday called Mitt Romney "ungrateful" for his support in 2012, hitting back at the 2012 GOP nominee for refusing to support the billionaire's candidacy.  "I believe I won for him, or helped him win, fives states that he was going to lose in the primaries. ... He was ungrateful," Trump said on NBC's "Meet the Press."  "What happened is I was rough on Mitt because I didn't think they treated me properly. I helped him, really helped him. Gave him a lot of money. Helped him with robocalls. Every single robocall I made, he won that state. Every single speech I made, he won the state, in terms of the primaries."  A Romney aide told The Hill last week that the former Massachusetts governor doesn't plan to attend the Republican National Convention in July after months of blasting Trump.

Trump's empty administration<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-administration-transition-222944>

POLITICO // DARREN SAMUELSOHN AND BEN WHITE

Top Republican political leaders aren’t the only ones shunning their party’s presidential nominee — a vast number of highly skilled managers and policy experts, veterans of recent GOP administrations who would normally be expected to fill key positions for a new White House, are also vowing to sit out a Donald Trump presidency. And while the failure of the two Presidents Bush or House Speaker Paul Ryan to endorse the presumptive nominee carries political consequences, the absence of policy veterans in a new administration would have a substantive effect on the running of government. Politico interviewed nearly five dozen Republicans over the past two weeks — people with experience working in government and who understand how Congress can enact, or shred, a new president’s agenda — and heard the same sentiment expressed repeatedly. If Trump doesn’t change his tune or extend much longer olive branches, many of these government veterans say they intend to cede highly coveted administration posts to less-experienced competitors.

Donald Trump’s war on the foreign press<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-foreign-press-222935>

POLITICO // BEN SCHRECKINGER AND HADAS GOLD

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has captivated – and disconcerted – much of the world, but the journalists tasked with translating Trump for a global audience are facing an unexpected barrier: They can’t get into his rallies. The nationalist tone of Trump’s campaign is being echoed in its press credentialing practices, with foreign media giants regularly denied press access and even blocked from general admission. Meanwhile, local outlets, down to the high school level, find there is plenty of room. The freeze-out is a source of aggravation for foreign reporters, but not all of them are blocked. And the decisions about who is in and who is out do not always match Trump’s rhetoric. Indeed, with journalists from Russia, France and Germany all reporting freeze-outs at the same time that Qatari-owned Al Jazeera and Japanese television find their way in, it appears Trump’s press office is waging a foreign policy all its own.

Tax Shift Marks Trump's Latest Rejection of Conservative Orthodoxy<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-09/tax-shift-marks-trump-s-latest-rejection-of-conservative-orthodoxy>

BLOOMBERG // SAHIL KAPUR

Donald Trump made a break from conservative orthodoxy on Sunday when he backed away from proposing large tax cuts for wealthy Americans. "On my plan they're going down. But by the time it's negotiated, they'll go up," the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said on ABC's "This Week." "I am willing to pay more," he said. "And you know what? The wealthy are willing to pay more. We've had a very good run." The remarks depart from the tax plan Trump unveiled in September, which proposed to lower the rate paid by the highest earners from 39.6 percent to 25 percent. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimated the plan would cost $9.5 trillion over a decade and lavish the top 0.1 percent of income earners with a tax break of $1.3 million on average in 2017 alone—a 19 percent gain on after-tax income, or four times as much as middle-income households would get. Trump on Sunday stuck to other aspects of his tax plan, saying he'd "make sure the middle class gets good tax breaks." But for upper incomes, he said he expected that "the taxes for the rich will go up somewhat." On NBC's "Meet The Press," Trump described his plan as a "floor" for negotiations with Congress. "The middle class has to be protected," he said.

G.O.P. Has Only Itself to Blame<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/09/opinion/gop-has-only-itself-to-blame.html?ref=opinion>

NEW YORK TIMES // CHARLES M. BLOW

The Republican Party is trapped between a rock and huckster. Now that all of their other presidential candidates have dropped out of the race, Donald Trump is the last demagogue standing. He is their presumptive nominee. Their party belongs to him. It’s a YUUGE … disaster. Now the few remaining serious folks in that party have to make a decision: support this man who, if current trends in polling hold, is likely to lose the general election by an overwhelming margin (and likely do even more damage to the party brand and hurt the chances of down-ballot candidates), or they can … wait, they don’t really have another option other than to sit out this cycle and pretend that their party hasn’t gone stark raving mad. The House speaker, Paul Ryan, told CNN last week that he is “just not ready” to support Trump. Jeb Bush posted on Facebook, “I will not vote for Donald Trump.” His brother and father are both refusing to endorse Trump. Mitt Romney, the Republicans’ last presidential nominee, has also said that he won’t support Trump. Lindsey Graham said last week that he “cannot in good conscience” support Trump. Many prominent Republicans have also indicated that they will skip the party’s convention.

Trump's Primary Strategy May Not Serve Him Well in General Election<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-09/trump-s-primary-strategy-may-not-serve-him-well-in-general-election>

BLOOMBERG // JENNIFER JACOBS AND KEVIN CIRILLI

Donald Trump is in something of a political desert. After becoming the presumptive Republican nominee at least a month earlier than even he expected, he's being hammered by Democrats, and denied the welcome mat from his own party.  Now thrust into the role of his party's standard-bearer, it remains to be seen whether he will stick to the strategy that got him there, or chart a different course in order to succeed in the general election. In the first four days since his GOP rivals dropped out of the race, Trump has stuck to basics—using his celebrity to draw big crowds at rallies, dominating news shows on TV, eviscerating opponents with insults—even as some down-ballot Republican candidates cringe, nervous about being forced to defend him, and Democrats predict he’ll be radioactive to a good number of working women, minorities and independent voters. The primary electorate is about 20 percent of the general election electorate. But so far, Trump hasn’t strayed from a rally schedule that follows the route to a GOP primary victory, campaigning in West Virginia, Nebraska, Oregon and Washington.

Editorials/Op-Eds

A good prognosis for the Affordable Care Act as UnitedHealth says goodbye<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/goodbye-unitedhealth/2016/05/08/b5ac4ac0-07fd-11e6-bdcb-0133da18418d_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // EDITORIAL BOARD

The Affordable Care Act’s critics seemed to get a shocking piece of new evidence when UnitedHealth Group, the country’s largest health insurer, announced last month that it would pull out of many ACA markets next year. In fact, the news is not all that shocking, and it is not a sign that the law is failing. Though UnitedHealth is the country’s largest health insurer, it is not a dominant player in the marketplaces that the ACA set up for individual insurance buyers. It covers only about 6 percent of 12.7 million marketplace participants. United does not appear to have been very effective at competing to attract customers. An Urban Institute study found that United’s premiums tend to be higher than competitors’, perhaps because its plans offer wide networks of doctors, hospitals and other providers to choose from, which is expensive. Unsurprisingly, marketplace insurance buyers tend to pick lower-cost options. The Kaiser Family Foundation concluded that even if United stopped participating in all ACA marketplaces, premiums would go up about 1 percent overall.

Is Trump More Dangerous as Friend or Foe?<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/opinion/campaign-stops/is-trump-more-dangerous-as-friend-or-foe.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>

NEW YORK TIMES // JOSH KRAUSHAAR

Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, vowed last week that he could unite the fractured Republican Party. Republicans are trying to figure out what to think, and what to do, about Mr. Trump. Some unlikely politicians have jumped on the Trump train, like Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, a moderate up for re-election. But many others are holding out, including the speaker of the House, Paul D. Ryan, who said that he was “just not ready” to support Mr. Trump for president. The Republican Party is now at war with itself: elected officials focused on short-term survival against those with longer-term interests; intellectuals against lobbyists; the Republican National Committee against the party’s Senate campaign committee; and governors looking to get in Mr. Trump’s good graces for future appointments against governors in states where he is politically toxic. If Mr. Trump fails to unite the party — if he runs in the general election as he did in the primaries, as a man without a party — will it matter?

Dangerous rocks in the South China Sea<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dangerous-rocks-in-the-south-china-sea/2016/05/08/e961f34e-115b-11e6-93ae-50921721165d_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // EDITORIAL BOARD

HAVING MADE a “rebalancing” toward Asia a pillar of his foreign policy, President Obama may face a fateful test from China in his final months in office. President Xi Jinping already broke a promise he made to Mr. Obama not to militarize islets his regime has been building up in two parts of the South China Sea. Now Beijing appears to be contemplating building a base on a contested shoal just 150 miles from Subic Bay in the Philippines. A failure by the administration to prevent this audacious step could unravel much of what it has done to bolster U.S. influence in the region. Chinese development of Scarborough Shoal, a collection of rocks and coral reefs it seized from the Philippines four years ago, would escalate its already-belligerent behavior in the South China Sea in a number of ways. Until now, Beijing’s landfill work and construction of airstrips have occurred on islets it already controlled that are considerably closer to the Chinese mainland. Scarborough Shoal lies about 500 miles from China. A base there could allow Chinese radar and missiles to threaten Manila, as well as Philippine bases where U.S. forces are positioned.

Trump, Truth and the Power of Contradiction<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/opinion/sunday/trump-truth-and-the-power-of-contradiction.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>

NEW YORK TIMES // MICHAEL P. LYNCH

Consistency, Emerson said, is the hobgoblin of little minds. Perhaps no one in American public life channels this thought more than Donald J. Trump. He not only doesn’t fear contradiction, he embraces it. And he is downright scornful of those little minds that are bothered by his performances. Mr. Trump’s willingness to be inconsistent — even in a single interview, or the same speech — has baffled political strategists for months. Even more puzzling is his followers’ happy toleration of it. It is as though the content of what Mr. Trump says doesn’t matter; only the fact that he is saying it does. But how could that be? After all, other candidates are seemingly held to different standards, by their supporters and others. They are held responsible for what they say. A striking early example of this was Mr. Trump’s initial refusal to condemn the Ku Klux Klan and other white nationalists who had been endorsing him. Mr. Trump later denounced such groups. Yet many white supremacists, including David Duke, continue to support Mr. Trump. Why?

A Second Chance and the Right to Vote<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/opinion/a-second-chance-and-the-right-to-vote.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>

NEW YORK TIMES // EDITORIAL BOARD

Republican legislators in Virginia are threatening to sue Gov. Terry McAuliffe to block his executive order restoring voting rights to more than 200,000 residents who have completed their felony sentences. The lawmakers have no good legal case, and worse, such a suit would be affirming Virginia’s racist history. Virginia is one of just four states — along with Iowa, Florida and Kentucky — that continue to impose a lifetime voting ban on people convicted of felonies. In recent years, both Democratic and Republican governors have worked to lift this burden, either by streamlining the application process for individuals or trying to restore rights to specific classes of people, like those convicted of nonviolent felonies. Mr. McAuliffe took a bolder and more just step last month by restoring those rights to all people with felony convictions. Republican lawmakers say this action “overstepped the bounds of his authority and the constitutional limits on executive powers.”

Washington might not be totally broken<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/washington-might-not-be-totally-broken/2016/05/07/93b56cb4-0e4a-11e6-8ab8-9ad050f76d7d_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // EDITORIAL BOARD

IT IS a Washington truism that nothing gets done in an election year, particularly now that partisanship is as severe as ever in recent memory. But with all attention on a boisterous presidential race, members of Congress have managed to do a few things right lately. A bipartisan group of senators announced a major criminal-justice-reform bill on April 28, bringing Congress a crucial step closer to repairing federal sentencing and prison policy. Critics point out that the bill is modest, watered-down from previous versions that would have eased penalties for more types of federal prisoners. For the senators behind the bill, however, these compromises were necessary to bring in votes for the policy, which would still do good. Focusing on nonviolent offenders, the legislation would reduce penalties for low-level drug crimes and give judges more leeway in sentencing. Minor players in major drug rings, for example, would be eligible for lesser sentences. The bill would also allow some federal prisoners to earn early release by completing prison programs designed to curb recidivism. For better or for worse, the bill would not empty the nation’s prisons, and it would not eliminate the appalling treatment of some inmates in this country, in large part because the federal government does not control state prisons, which lock up many more people. But the bill would deal with some of the excesses of the tough-on-crime attitude of previous decades.

Restoring Virginians’ voting rights<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/restoring-virginians-voting-rights/2016/05/08/71e5301a-12f5-11e6-8967-7ac733c56f12_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // EDITORIAL BOARD

The intent of Virginia’s ban on voting by convicted felons was to weaken the political power of black people, whose electoral clout was abhorrent to the racists who enacted the prohibition a century ago. Today, Virginia Republicans, who have done their utmost to dilute minority voting by enacting arbitrary voter-ID requirements, are animated by the same idea. Determined to block any surge in African American electoral participation in November, which would mainly benefit Democrats, they are planning litigation to challenge Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s executive order that restores voting rights to more than 200,000 former convicts who have finished serving their felony sentences. When Richmond’s GOP leaders embarked on their campaign to tighten voter-ID laws, they could cite no widespread or credible problem with fraud at the polls. Today, similarly, they can point to no constitutional language preventing Mr. McAuliffe, a Democrat, from restoring voting rights to ex-convicts — something that takes place routinely in most states.

There’s only one way Mr. Ryan could support Mr. Trump<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/theres-only-one-way-mr-ryan-could-support-mr-trump/2016/05/07/5863ef14-13c7-11e6-93ae-50921721165d_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // EDITORIAL BOARD

It was an “extraordinary rebuke” of Donald Trump, according to various news reports. Or was it? House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said this week that he is “not ready” to endorse the presumptive Republican nominee — “at this point.” But, he added, “I hope to, though, and I want to.” How could Mr. Trump change the speaker’s mind? He must “do more to unify this party to bring all wings of the Republican Party together, and then to go forward and to appeal to all Americans and every walk of life, every background,” Mr. Ryan said. While not the ringing condemnation Mr. Trump deserves, Mr. Ryan’s statement puts him ahead of many in his party. Some, such as Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, immediately caved after Mr. Trump won the Indiana primary. Others have tried to have it both ways, supporting Mr. Trump while also distancing themselves from the billionaire. “I have committed to supporting the nominee chosen by Republican voters, and Donald Trump, the presumptive nominee, is now on the verge of clinching that nomination,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said.

A Better, Not Fatter, Defense Budget<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/09/opinion/a-better-not-fatter-defense-budget.html?ref=opinion>

NEW YORK TIMES // EDITORIAL BOARD

To hear some military commanders and members of Congress talk, the American military is worn out and in desperate need of more money. After more than a decade in Iraq and Afghanistan, they say, troops are lagging in training and new weaponry, which is jeopardizing their ability to defeat the Islamic State and deal with potential conflicts with Russia and China. While increased funding for some programs may be needed, total military spending, at nearly $600 billion annually, is not too low. The trouble is, the investment has often yielded poor results, with the Pentagon, Congress and the White House all making bad judgments, playing budget games and falling under the sway of defense industry lobbyists. Current military spending is 50 percent higher in real terms than it was before 9/11, yet the number of active duty and reserve troops is 6 percent smaller.