Week Ahead: N.H. Primary, Post-Impeachment Politics, 2020 Election Latest
Getting ready in New Hampshire after Iowa’s wobbly start. We’ll look ahead to what’s happening on the ground in the first-in-the-nation primary, and more.
Guests
Anthony Brooks, WBUR senior political reporter. (@anthonygbrooks)
Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst. (@JackBeattyNPR)
Yamiche Alcindor, PBS NewsHour White House correspondent. (@Yamiche)
Janet Hook, national political reporter for the Los Angeles Times. (@hookjan)
From The Reading List
WBUR: “Closing Arguments In N.H. Turn Sharp, As Buttigieg And Sanders Vie For 2nd Win” — “Across New Hampshire, as the Democratic presidential candidates make their closing arguments ahead of Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation primary, the latest polls suggest Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg are in the lead, after finishing at the top in Iowa last week.
“Sanders and Buttigieg are a study in contrasts. One is a 78-year-old Democratic socialist and the oldest candidate in the race. The other, at 38, is the youngest.
On Saturday in Keene, actor Michael J. Fox introduced Buttigieg as a ‘left handed, Maltese-American, Episcopalian, gay, millennial war veteran…and the next President of the United States.'”
The New York Times: “Trump to Propose $4.8 Trillion Budget With More Border Wall Funding” — “President Trump is expected to propose on Monday a $4.8 trillion budget that will include billions of additional dollars for his wall along the southern border and steep cuts to safety net programs like Medicaid, disability insurance and housing assistance, according to senior administration officials and documents reviewed by The New York Times.
“The final budget proposal of Mr. Trump’s first term is expected to reinforce the anti-immigration platform that helped propel him into office and will be a big part of his re-election campaign. Mr. Trump intends to ask Congress for an additional $2 billion to fund his border wall, according to people familiar with the plan, pressing ahead with one of his signature campaign pledges and setting up another clash with Democrats.
“The White House budget is generally viewed as a political messaging document. Congress, which is responsible for approving government spending, is under no requirement to adhere to White House requests. Lawmakers have previously rejected many of Mr. Trump’s attempts to gut domestic programs.”
The New York Times: “Trump Fires Impeachment Witnesses Gordon Sondland and Alexander Vindman in Post-Acquittal Purge” — “President Trump wasted little time on Friday opening a campaign of retribution against those he blames for his impeachment, firing two of the most prominent witnesses in the House inquiry against him barely 48 hours after being acquitted by the Senate.
“Emboldened by his victory and determined to strike back, Mr. Trump ordered Gordon D. Sondland, the founder of a hotel chain who donated $1 million to the president’s inaugural committee, recalled from his post as the ambassador to the European Union on the same day that Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, a decorated Iraq war veteran on the National Security Council staff, was marched out of the White House by security guards.
“The ousters of Mr. Sondland and Colonel Vindman — along with Mr. Vindman’s brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, an Army officer who also worked on the National Security Council staff — may only presage a broader effort to even accounts with the president’s perceived enemies. In the two days since his acquittal in the Senate, Mr. Trump has railed about those who stood against him, calling them ‘evil,’ ‘corrupt’ and ‘crooked,’ while his press secretary declared that those who hurt the president ‘should pay for’ it.”
This article was originally published on WBUR.org. [Copyright 2020 NPR]
