The Morning Briefing: John Thune Is the Most Effective Democrat in Congress Right Now

'Problematic' GOP bill gets icy review from Wall Street Journal: 'Political rent-seeking'

The Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board sharply rebuked a Republican bill advancing through the Senate on Sunday as "political rent-seeking under the guise of national security."Senate Republicans have advanced a bill that would expand Commerce Department restrictions on Chinese “connected” software in cars. A new editorial argued that the move seems reasonable on the surface because of myriad internet-connected systems in new vehicles, but the bill has been hijacked by "self-serving union and corporate interests." "While political favoritism could bias national-security reviews, the Senate bill is more problematic," the editorial reads. One group the editorial singled out is the United Auto Workers union, which "almost exclusively backs Democrats." That led the editors to question why Republicans would bother to carry water for the union, as proponents of the bill have proven themselves willing to do. The editorial also highlighted how the bill could create political risks for Republicans ahead of the midterms. One auto manufacturer that stands to be impacted by the bill is Mercedes, which employs over 7,500 people in two Republican states, Alabama and South Carolina, the editorial noted. Republicans have also shown a willingness to fight Mercedes over the company's opposition to the bill. For instance, the editorial flagged a letter written by the House Select Committee on China that chided Mercedes for trying to tell U.S. lawmakers "how to set the rules for our own country.""This being an election year, there’s a risk that Republicans who want to flaunt their anti-China bona fides insist on attaching the bill to a must-pass vehicle like the National Defense Authorization Act," the editorial added. "If American workers later lose their jobs, they’ll blame someone else."

Internet firestorm erupts as Wall Street Journal editorial targets 'radical' group

The Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board issued a scathing editorial on Sunday targeting what they called a "radical" left-wing group. "The Democratic Socialists of America are gaining strength in the Democratic Party, so it behooves voters to know what they’d do with political power," the editorial reads in part. And one position that the editors singled out is the party's calls to "abolish the Senate" to create a government "with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress." "The left loathes the Senate because it is also a restraint on temporary majorities," the editors added. "The Senate’s design, with two Members from each state, gives an equal voice to small and large states. This prevents dominance by California, New York, and Texas. And it buttresses the federalist principles at the core of the Constitution’s design, which preserves certain powers to the states as a check on Washington, D.C.’s commandments.""The common denominator in all of these DSA proposals is eliminating barriers to rapid, radical change," they added. "The socialists want a single-branch legislature that can sweep into power in a single election, dominate the President, and neuter the judiciary as a check on that power. With those checks gone, they can impose their agenda that will be nearly impossible to undo."The editorial was published on the same day that DSA Chair Megan Romer told Fox News's Shannon Bream on "Fox News Sunday" that the party's plan to abolish the Senate was "true," which set off an internet firestorm. MAGA fans had a field day with Romer's comments. "This is the new Democrat Party; their agenda is incompatible with Western civilization," Benny Johnson, a popular MAGA influencer, posted on X."The Democratic Socialists of America co-chair just confirmed they are full-blown communists," Jonathan Choe, senior journalism fellow at the Discovery Institute, posted on X. "If you need any more proof, listen to what she had to say about their plans for this country." The comments also sparked sharp pushback from some Democrats as well. "This isn’t a big tent—it’s anarchy," Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) posted on X in response to a clip of Romer's interview. "This is the kind of crazy, stupid, just plain wrong s--- that Republicans will tag the whole Democratic party with and cause independents & moderates to not vote Democrat," Joe Walsh, a former Republican lawmaker who switched party allegiances, posted on X. "So please, Democrats…condemn this s---."

Some Democrats tout their version of "America First"

A small but growing number of Democrats are embracing their own version of "America First" in response to Donald Trump's ongoing war with Iran in partnership with Israel.Why it matters: Trump's war is scrambling the politics of a slogan he once owned, fracturing the right even as some Democrats — including potential 2028 presidential candidates — embrace it.Driving the news: Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive Senate candidate in Michigan who campaigned with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) last weekend, told Axios: "I'm the most America First candidate in the country, proudly.""When you keep our money here rather than sending it to some other country's war machine, that's America First," he said.California Rep. Ro Khanna, who's weighing a run for the White House, also is embracing the label.In April, he said it's time to "put America first" when he reintroduced a bill to ban gas exports during periods of high gas prices.In February on the House floor, Khanna said that "another war in the Middle East is not America First."And Dan Osborn, a union leader running for Senate in Nebraska as an independent against the Republican incumbent, wrote on Friday: "We need to be putting America first, not Israel first.""We can't undermine the independence of the American military for any ally," he added, "much less an untrustworthy one that's already forced us to throw money at a useless forever war overseas."Zoom out: Some Republicans agree with Democrats that Trump's war with Iran was a betrayal of his pledge to put Americans first — and that it's given Democrats a political opening.Tucker Carlson, who introduced Trump at the Republican National Convention in 2024, lobbied the president against attacking Iran and has since apologized for "misleading people" about Trump.El-Sayed agreed with Trump's critics on the right, saying that "the MAGA version of America First is to make a show out of America First, only to sell you out.""They'll always be beholden to the interests of a foreign interest lobby like AIPAC, and always be beholden to the interests of the corporate war machine, the military-industrial complex, the folks who win every single time we send our weapons abroad," he added.Between the lines: Most national Democrats still stop short of using Trump's phrase, but they increasingly echo its main arguments.Campaigning in Memphis this month, Ocasio-Cortez — who's considering a run for president or the Senate in 2028 — said that "all that money we're spending on bombs abroad could be spent on schools right here."In a speech to Arkansas' Democratic Party in April, former Vice President Kamala Harris said, "To spark an American revival, we must start with a bold agenda where our public dollars go to affordable housing and healthcare and childcare, not spent on reckless foreign wars that no one wants."Trump himself repeatedly decried "stupid foreign wars" during the 2024 campaign.Beyond antiwar statements, many Democrats have embraced domestic industrial policies aimed at reviving American manufacturing.In June, Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Cory Booker of New Jersey — both potential presidential contenders — were among those introducing the Make More in America Act.Kelly argued the bill would "build more things here at home and create good-paying jobs while reducing our dependency on foreign adversaries."Bottom line: Trump will finish his term in 2029, but the politics that led him to embrace "America First" now appear bipartisan, and here to stay.Polls indicate voters are tired of the decades of battles in the Middle East, particularly when they don't feel positive about their economic situation at home. Now politicians in both parties are trying to meet voters where they already are.

Sanders stands by Platner endorsement, gives Troy Jackson ‘excellent’ chance

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) stood by his prior endorsement of former Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner on Sunday. In an interview with CBS News’s Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan, Sanders was confronted over his past endorsement of Platner, who dropped out of the race after being accused of rape by a former girlfriend. When […]

Sanders rebukes Rahm Emanuel and establishment Democrats: ‘Status quo is not working’

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) rebuked former Chicago mayor and likely 2028 presidential candidate Rahm Emanuel and establishment Democrats writ large on Sunday, saying “the people are sick and tired of the status quo” while casting progressive Democratic Senate candidates as the future of the Democratic Party. While speaking with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation, […]

Lindsey Graham Video Biographer Documents Something Interesting

Senator Lindsey Graham was having a documentary about his life and political efforts made at the time he died.  The biographical outline is scheduled to be released in the future [CITATION]. However, the Wall Street Journal was granted some excerpts of the recent filming. In a rather telling part of the storyline, Senator Graham notes […] The post Lindsey Graham Video Biographer Documents Something Interesting appeared first on The Last Refuge.

GOP senator says Thune ‘being too cautious’ in talks with Senate Democrats to avoid shutdown

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) on Sunday said that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is “being too cautious” in his talks with Senate Democratic leaders in an effort to avoid a government shutdown at the end of September. “Look, I mean no disrespect. I love John Thune. He’s my leader. He’s got a big brain.…