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may 21-2019

Tuesday, May 21, 2019 - 10:30am
Utah Policy

Situational awareness - May 21, 2019

Good Tuesday morning from Salt Lake City.

Welcome to Utah's must-read daily political news rundown. Please encourage your friends and colleagues to sign up for our emails.

Here's what is driving the day:

  • Spencer Cox discusses his 2020 run for governor.
  • A federal judge orders Trump accounting firm to hand over records to Congress.
  • Cohen claims Trump's lawyers encouraged him to lie to Congress.

News tips/story ideas

Kindly send suggestions, concerns and news tips to us via email at bschott@utahpolicy.com.

The UtahPolicy.com daily newsletter gets you up to speed on the top local and national news about politics and public policy. Our news is curated by Managing Editor Bryan Schott, along with help from Golden Webb. ((Click here to subscribe))

 

TICK TOCK

Today is the 141st day of the year. There are 224 days remaining in 2019.

13 days until the municipal election filing period opens (6/3/2019)

17 days until the municipal election filing period ends (6/7/2019)

18 days until the Independent American Party Utah State Convention (6/8/2019)

32 days to the Utah State Democratic Party Organizing Convention (6/22/2019)

36 days to the first Democratic presidential primary debates in Miami (6/26/2019)

70 days to the second Democratic presidential primary debates in Detroit (7/30/2019)

84 days to the 2019 Utah primary elections (8/13/2019)

168 days to the 2019 municipal elections (11/5/2019)

251 days to the first day of the 2020 Utah Legislature (1/27/2020)

259 days to the 2020 Iowa Caucuses (2/3/2020)

287 days to the 2020 Utah presidential primary (3/3/2020)

528 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Today At Utah Policy

Q&A with Spencer Cox
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Spencer Cox threw his hat in the ring for the 2020 Utah gubernatorial race last week. If he wins, Cox would become the first Utah Lt. Governor to win an election to the governor's office.

Speaker Brad Wilson announces upcoming staff changes
By Press release
Speaker Brad Wilson has announced that Greg Hartley, current Chief of Staff to the Utah House of Representatives, will conclude his service with the House later this year to pursue other opportunities.

OTHER UTAH HEADLINES

Deseret News

Salt Lake Tribune

 

NATIONAL HEADLINES

Judge orders Trump accounting firm to hand over records to Congress. A federal judge ordered Mazars to comply with a congressional subpoena seeking years of financial records for President Trump's businesses. Trump sued to block the subpoena, but the judge ruled Congress has the authority to investigate the president. An appeal of the ruling is almost inevitable - https://wapo.st/2Qh6A4T

Cohen told lawmakers Trump's lawyers encouraged him to lie to Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow project. In newly released transcripts of Michael Cohen's closed-door testimony to the House Intelligence Committee, President Trump's former personal lawyer says one of the president's attorneys urged him to falsely claim negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow ended in January of 2016 - https://wapo.st/2QgoGnJ

White House blocks Don McGahn from testifying before Congress. The House Judiciary Committee wants to hear from the former White House counsel, but the Trump administration ordered McGahn to defy the committee's subpoena. Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler threatened to punish McGahn for not complying - https://cnn.it/2Qe8aoa

  • Some Republicans in Congress are growing uneasy with President Trump's claims that Congress does not have the authority to investigate him - https://politi.co/2QbfzVc

House Democrats getting antsy about impeachment. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi clashed with members of her caucus during a closed-door meeting as several members pushed her to begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump - https://politi.co/2QcITuA

Boring but really important. Four top Congressional leaders will begin talks on Tuesday about a possible deal to raise the debt ceiling to avoid harsh mandatory cuts later this year - https://politi.co/2QbaXyk

That was fast. Just two days after saying President Trump may have committed impeachable offenses, Republican Rep. Justin Amash draw a primary challenger for 2020 - http://bit.ly/2QjZ3m4

A potential Trump adviser demands an insane list of perks. Former Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach sent a list of 10 demands to Trump for him to become the administration's "immigration czar." They include access to a government jet 24-hours a day and a guarantee he would be made secretary of homeland security by November - https://nyti.ms/2Qi72jA

Border funding plan would take millions from other agencies. A backup plan from the Department of Homeland Security to fund President Trump's border wall would take $50 million from the TSA for new screening equipment. The plan also taps $3 million from loose change left at security checkpoints in airports - https://nbcnews.to/2QbbXT6

ICE is holding thousands of immigrants in solitary confinement. Immigration officials are holding detainees in isolation despite department guidelines that say the move should only be used in "exceptional circumstances" - http://bit.ly/2QedyHN

Trump rallies in Pennsylvania. The president railed against fake "suppression polls" and claimed those trying to investigate his administration were guilty of "treason" during a rally on Monday night - https://politi.co/2QdxmLC

Gender equity. Democrat Kamala Harris wants to punish companies that don't pay women equally to their male counterparts - https://politi.co/2QbgZiu

Supreme Court

Russian election interference. Newly public documents detail Russian plans to stoke unrest and possibly violence inside the U.S. - https://nbcnews.to/2Qh7DBR

Ford will cut 7,000 jobs. The automaker is slashing about 10% of its salaried workforce - https://cnn.it/2Qhkkg3

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1832 - The first Democratic Party national convention convened in Baltimore.

1856 - Lawrence, Kansas, was burned by pro-slavery forces.

1881 - The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton in Washington, D.C.

1904 - The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is founded in Paris.

1927 - Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

1932 - Bad weather forces Amelia Earhart to land in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, and she thereby becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

1934 - Oskaloosa, Iowa, becomes the first municipality in the U.S. to fingerprint all of its citizens.

1961 - Civil rights movement: Alabama Governor John Patterson declares martial law in an attempt to restore order after race riots break out.

1992 - After 30 years Johnny Carson hosted his penultimate episode and last featuring guests (Robin Williams and Bette Midler) of The Tonight Show.

 

Policy News

Over 30 Utah businesses commit to challenge to elevate women in the workplace
33 businesses and organizations accepted the ElevateHer Challenge to elevate women in business, bringing the total number of businesses taking the corporate challenge sponsored by the Women's Leadership Institute (WLI) to 229.

More National Headlines

Wise Words

Adapt

 

"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination."Jimmy Dean

Lighter Side

Immigration

 

"Trump wants immigrants to learn proper English and pass a basic exam about how government works. To which immigrants said, 'You first.'" - JAMES CORDEN