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Politics & Policy
Politics & Policy

Good morning from the WSJ Washington Bureau. We write this newsletter each weekday to deliver exclusive insights and analysis from our reporting team in Washington. Sign up.

By Miguel Gonzalez

 

What We're Watching

Biden Administration: President Biden is scheduled to depart the White House at 9:45 a.m. ET en route to Palm Beach, Fla., where he will participate in a campaign reception at 2 p.m. He will depart at 3:25 p.m. for Miami for another campaign reception at 6:15 p.m., after which he will return to the White House.

Economy: The Labor Department is set to report December and 2023 data on quits, hiring and job openings at 10 a.m. Read more below.

Israel-Hamas War: Regional militias such as Hamas have escalated bloodshed, presenting a dilemma for Iran over how much support to give without drawing retaliation.

 
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Politics

Nikki Haley has said she would keep competing for the Republican presidential nomination through at least Super Tuesday on March 5, when more than a dozen states will hold elections; PHOTO: ERIK S LESSER/SHUTTERSTOCK

Nikki Haley is tapping defiant donors big and small who are keeping her campaign against Donald Trump funded.

The former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador has seen a burst in online fundraising—more than $4 million—since more fully framing herself as Trump’s nemesis after losing to him in last week’s New Hampshire primary, reports John McCormick. There are also signs that her large-dollar donors, many of whom have harbored a distaste for Trump, are remaining supportive of the last major candidate standing in his way. Trump’s call for those who contribute to Haley to be “permanently barred” from his political movement has angered some Republican and independent donors, while boosting Haley’s fundraising.

“Attacking Nikki Haley’s financial supporters is not about throwing us out of MAGA, as he has already long since driven us out of the Republican Party.”

— James Hoffmann, a retired investment manager and Haley donor from Massachusetts

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: NAYON CHO/WSJ

▶️Video: For over 70 years Israel has enjoyed unparalleled U.S. support in the form of economic and military aid. But the future of this arrangement is now uncertain given the increasingly vocal opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza from progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.).

 

National Security

Inflation played havoc with cost estimates Northrop Grumman made when it beat a team of Boeing and Lockheed Martin for the initial contract for the B-21 Raider aircraft in 2015. PHOTO: DAVID SWANSON/REUTERS

The Pentagon wants to develop advanced weapons systems to counter emerging threats, but many defense contractors are passing.

The companies are looking to avoid projects that risk becoming unprofitable, report Doug Cameron and Drew FitzGerald.The industry’s discontent has been brewing for months and reached a crescendo this past week when Northrop Grumman said it would take a charge of $1.2 billion building the first batches of the new B-21 Raider, a long-range bomber aircraft that will be capable of carrying nuclear weapons and is a centerpiece of efforts to deter military actions from China and Russia. Inflation, pandemic-driven supply chain challenges and labor shortages made the first planes pricier to make.

 

The WSJ’s Evan Gershkovich is being wrongfully detained in Russia after he was arrested while on a reporting trip and accused of espionage—a charge the Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny. Follow the latest coverage, sign up for an email alert, and learn how you can use social media to support Evan.

 

Economy

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

More workers likely stuck with their jobs last year, a sign that confidence in the labor market is declining.

That is a turnaround from the years just after the pandemic took hold, when resignations surged and companies faced labor shortages, reports Austen Hufford. In 2021 and 2022, employers put up billboards seeking workers, eliminated background checks, offered big raises and handed out signing bonuses to restaurant and factory workers.

In other economic news...

  • Europe’s Stagnating Economy Falls Further Behind the U.S. (Read)
  • What Investors Need to Know About the U.S. Government’s Borrowing Plans (Read)
  • Why Oil Prices Rose After Shrugging Off a Crisis (Read)
 

World

▶️Video: The U.S. misidentified the enemy drone that attacked its outpost Sunday, killing three U.S. troops and wounding more than 40 more at the American base in Jordan, near the borders of Iraq and Syria. PHOTO: PLANET LABS PBC/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Exclusive icon.Exclusive icon. WSJ News Exclusive

The U.S. failed to stop the attack on its outpost in Jordan when the enemy drone approached at the same time a U.S. drone was returning to base.

The return of the U.S. drone led to some confusion over whether the incoming drone was friend or foe, officials have concluded so far, though they cautioned the inquiry into the attack was in an early stage, report Nancy A. Youssef, Michael R. Gordon and Sune Engel Rasmussen. The enemy drone was launched from Iraq by a militia backed by Tehran and struck the outpost’s living quarters, U.S. officials said. An American defense official said that the U.S. has yet to find evidence that Iran directed the attack, which killed three U.S. troops and wounded more than 40 more. The U.S. range of options for responding to Sunday’s deadly Iranian-backed militia attack includes a direct strike against Iran, hitting the regime’s proxy groups or personnel abroad, and ratcheting up financial pressure on Tehran’s battered economy.

  • Qatar’s Prime Minister Says Progress Made on Hostage-Release Deal (Read)
  • Israel’s Far Right Plots Return to Gaza Without Palestinians (Read)

In other world news...

  • U.S. and China Talk Fentanyl in Latest Sign of Thawing Ties (Read)
  • As Ukraine Plows Through Artillery Shells, One Plan to Send More Fizzles (Read)
 

Business Regulation

New stoves will have to meet the Energy Department’s updated efficiency standards by 2028. PHOTO: STEVEN SENNE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

New federal energy-efficiency standards will allow gas stoves to keep high-powered burners and oversize cast-iron grates.

The final rules, which reflect a September agreement between the appliance industry and environmental and consumer groups, turn down the heat on a debate that industry critics said would have forced nearly all gas-stove models on the market to be redesigned, though the department and some environmental advocates disputed that, reports John Keilman. The Energy Department said the final rules mean that 97% of today’s gas stoves already meet the new efficiency standards, though 23% of smooth top electric stoves fall short.

In other regulatory news...

Exclusive icon.Exclusive icon. WSJ News Exclusive
  • TikTok Pledged to Protect U.S. Data. $1.5 Billion Later, It's Still Struggling. (Read)
 

Legal News

A former IRS contractor was sentenced to five years in prison for leaking the tax returns of Donald Trump and other wealthy Americans.

The maximum sentence was given to Charles Littlejohn, who admitted last year to stealing confidential data from tax returns and providing them to two news organizations, the New York Times and ProPublica, while working as an Internal Revenue Service contractor, report C. Ryan Barber and Aruna Viswanatha. The breach had drawn outcry from lawmakers while shedding light on some strategies the ultrarich use to lessen their tax burdens.

 

What We're Reading

  • The judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York could order that the former president’s real-estate business empire be dissolved, a rare instance of the ultimate punishment for violating the state’s antifraud law. (AP)
  • Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, speaking at an event at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, opened up about the “frustration” she said she experiences daily as the high court’s conservative supermajority continues to move the country further to the right. (CNN)
  • CIA Director William Burns writes that success for the intelligence profession in the current era will depend on blending traditional human intelligence with emerging technologies in creative ways. (Foreign Affairs)
 

What Do You Think?

Yesterday, we asked if Congress should stop carmakers from dropping AM radio tuners in new vehicles.

How about we simply let the market decide? When radios were first available in cars no legislation was needed. Consumers led. Auto manufacturers followed. Since there are many ways to receive emergency alerts, the need has passed. Isn't it time that the federal government focused on big issues like balancing the budget and not trivial nonsense? 
–Steve Gokorsch, Ohio

Although, as a conservative, I hate to see federal intervention in this matter, I do want AM radio in my car. AM has several technical and practical advantages over FM and satellite radio, among them are drive-time traffic and weather reports.
–Steve Pacetti, Colorado

Discontinuing AM radio tuners in vehicles runs against sensibility, removing a reliable layer of public safety and information distribution from the airwaves. AM radio’s lower frequency and larger wavelengths travel longer distances, which benefits our country’s rural areas when broadcasting real-time news, alerts, or events. In urban areas, AM penetrates solid objects easier. That some EV engines interfere with AM signals is an issue auto manufacturers should prioritize to resolve.
–Elliott Smith, Iowa

Responses have been condensed and edited.

 

How should the U.S. respond to the attacks by Iran-based militias on American forces in the Middle East? 

Let us know at politics@wsj.com or reply to this newsletter. Include your full name and location, and we may publish your response in an upcoming issue.

 

About Us

This newsletter is written by the WSJ Washington bureau. Send feedback to politics@wsj.com. You can follow politics coverage on our Politics page and at @wsjpolitics on X.

 
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