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Capital Journal
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Good morning from the WSJ Washington Bureau.
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Trump's Day: President Trump meets with the leaders of Palau, Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Island at the White House to discuss security ties with the Pacific island countries amid efforts by Washington to counter expanding Chinese influence in the region.
Congress: The top four congressional leaders meet to begin talks on a two-year budget deal. The House and Senate hold briefings on Iran.
U.S.-China Relations: The U.S. has sharply slowed approvals for the nation’s semiconductor companies to hire Chinese nationals for advanced engineering jobs, according to industry insiders, limiting access to talent.
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Iranian officials said that within weeks they could exceed an internationally agreed cap on their stockpile of low-enriched uranium, as tensions between Iran and the U.S. escalated, report Laurence Norman and Aresu Eqbali.
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President Trump almost certainly doesn’t seek armed conflict with Iran. Instead, the administration is using economic sanctions to generate unprecedented pressure on Iran in the hopes of bringing about two quite different goals. Jerry Seib's full column
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Why Talks Between the U.S. and Iran Aren't Implausible
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Amid rising tensions between Iran and the U.S. in recent days, there are three reasons the two countries could talk directly.
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PHOTO: MANUEL BALCE CENETA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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House Democrats are preparing for a new round of debate over initiating proceedings for the impeachment of President Trump. “If Don McGahn does not testify tomorrow [Tuesday], it will be time to begin an impeachment inquiry,” Rep. David Cicilline (D., R.I.) posted on Twitter Monday. Mr. Cicilline is chairman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee and sits on the House Judiciary Committee, making him what aides see as an indicator of a shift within the Democratic caucus, report Siobhan Hughes, Kristina Peterson and Natalie Andrews.
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President Trump directed former White House counsel Don McGahn to rebuff a congressional subpoena to testify Tuesday, reports Rebecca Ballhaus. A lawyer for Mr. McGahn said his client would “respect the president’s instruction.”
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Any impeachment proceeding begun in the House is expected to fall short of conviction in the GOP-controlled Senate.
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A federal judge ruled that President Trump can’t block a subpoena from a House committee seeking financial records from his longtime accounting firm, report Brent Kendall and Rebecca Ballhaus. A lawyer for Mr. Trump said an appeal would be filed.
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U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an appointee of President Obama, ruled House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings was on solid legal footing when he issued a subpoena to Mazars USA LLP.
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The subpoena sought eight years of financial statements and other records related to Mr. Trump, his real-estate company, his foundation and other entities belonging to the president.
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Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen told a House committee earlier this year that another Trump lawyer had suggested he testify falsely in 2017 about a Moscow real-estate project, a newly released transcript shows, report Brent Kendall and Rebecca Ballhaus. Mr. Trump criticized the ruling as “crazy.”
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Rep. Justin Amash reiterated his contention that President Trump engaged in impeachable conduct, offering a more detailed argument in favor of congressional action after drawing a primary challenge back home and an attack from the president, report Siobhan Hughes and Dustin Volz.
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Hundreds of lawmakers led by senior members of the House and Senate foreign policy committees have written to President Trump calling for a new U.S. strategy in Syria to counter Russia and Iran, deter terrorists and safeguard Israel, reports Courtney McBride.
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McCarthy Chief of Staff to Join Private-Equity Firm
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Barrett Karr, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s chief of staff, will leave Capitol Hill in two weeks to join private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners.
Ms. Karr, who had served as the California Republican’s top aide since January 2017, will be succeeded on an interim basis by longtime McCarthy aide James Min.
“Barrett’s leadership and energy will be sorely missed, as she will leave behind a culture of optimism and empowerment within our office and our conference,” Mr. McCarthy said in a statement.
One of the highest-ranking female staffers on Capitol Hill, Ms. Barrett previously worked as Mr. McCarthy’s deputy chief of staff and before that, staff director of the House Education Committee on the GOP side.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better position in public service,” Ms. Karr said in a statement. “I’ve had a front-row seat to learn from Kevin on everything from floor management, to agenda-building, and member engagement.”
Ms. Karr will join Silver Lake as its head of government relations.
“Barrett’s extensive legislative experience and strong network will prove most valuable to us as we monitor public policy and engage policymakers at all levels of government on behalf of our extensive and growing portfolio of market-leading companies," Silver Lake Managing Partner Greg Mondre said in a statement.
Ms. Karr has led Mr. McCarthy’s congressional office at a time when the minority leader has emerged as one of President Trump’s closest allies in Congress.
Ms. Karr worked earlier as deputy assistant for legislative affairs to former President George W. Bush and as chief of staff to Rep. Kay Granger of Texas.
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Budget Talks Feed Optimism White House, Congress Can Reach Two-Year Deal
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Key lawmakers on Capitol Hill are becoming optimistic they can reach a two-year budget deal with the White House.
Sen. Richard Shelby (R., Ala.), the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he met with President Trump, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, and acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought at the White House on Monday.
While much of the meeting focused on a multi-billion dollar disaster aid package on which the Senate is expected to vote this week, Mr. Shelby said he also came away from the meeting confident about the prospect of a broader spending deal. Trump administration officials and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy are set to meet Tuesday.
“I can’t tell you what’s going to happen but they seem to be very positive about that,” Mr. Shelby said of a budget deal.
The White House has previously resisted inking a two-year deal to set overall spending levels, instead advocating for a one-year extension of existing spending levels.
That position caused concern among lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who worried a 2011 budget law would force deep spending cuts if they don't reach an agreement. After Congress sets overall spending levels, it passes spending bills appropriating funds to specific agencies and initiatives.
The meeting on Tuesday will provide an important indicator of the possibility of a two-year deal. The last major spending fight between the White House and Congress led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
“I’m relatively confident that we can reach a deal with the Senate -- that’s not going to be a huge problem,” said Rep. John Yarmuth (D., Ky.), the chairman of the House Budget Committee. “It’s just whatever the White House is going to do.”
Write to Andrew Duehren at andrew.duehren@wsj.com
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Justice Department and Courts
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PHOTO: AL DRAGO FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Attorney General William Barr said his defense of executive power is more about protecting the presidency than shielding the current officeholder, reports Sadie Gurman.
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“I felt the rules were being changed to hurt Trump, and I thought it was damaging for the presidency over the long haul,” Mr. Barr told The Wall Street Journal.
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“If you destroy the presidency and make it an errand boy for Congress, we’re going to be a much weaker and more divided nation.”
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Merck & Co. won a partial victory at the Supreme Court, with the justices unanimously ruling that a judge, rather than a jury, must determine whether federal regulators took steps that immunize the company from claims its osteoporosis drug Fosamax injured patients, reports Brent Kendall.
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The Supreme Court rejected arguments that Wyoming’s 1890 statehood erased hunting rights provided under a treaty between the Crow tribe and the federal government, reports Jess Bravin. The decision renounced 19th-century precedent that gave little weight to promises made by the U.S. to Native American nations.
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Duke and the University of North Carolina are fierce competitors on the basketball court, but when it comes to medical hiring, they have been cozy collaborators, according to a class action that Duke moved to settle Monday for $54.5 million, reports Brent Kendall.
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Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill last week that virtually outlaws abortion in the state. PHOTO: HAL YEAGER/ALABAMA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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In the days since Alabama's Republican-controlled Legislature approved a near-total ban on abortion, the debate over abortion rights has taken a central role in the 2020 presidential race, reports Tarini Parti. Several Democratic presidential hopefuls have made abortion a central issue in the past week in a way that appears to be energizing the Democratic primary base.
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This newsletter is a production of the WSJ Washington bureau. Our newsletter editors are Tim Hanrahan, Kate Milani, Troy McCullough and Daniel Nasaw. Send feedback to capitaljournal@wsj.com. You can follow politics coverage during the day on our Politics page and at @wsjpolitics on Twitter.
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