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Capital Journal
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Good morning from the WSJ Washington Bureau.
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Trump's Day: The president has a working lunch at the White House with governors on workforce freedom and mobility and later delivers remarks on "second chance hiring."
Campaign 2020: The Democratic National Committee announces the 20 participants of the June debates in Miami. Read more below on which candidates are likely to make the cut.
Tech Regulation: Tune in at noon for a live conversation with WSJ journalists Viveca Novak and John D. McKinnon on what to expect as regulators turn their attention to tech giants. Register now.
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Developing: U.S. Assists Tankers Near Iran
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A picture obtained from Iranian State TV reportedly shows smoke billowing from a tanker said to have been attacked in the Gulf of Oman. PHOTO: HO/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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Two oil tankers were damaged in suspected attacks off the coast of Iran this morning, sending oil prices sharply higher amid tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The USS Bainbridge, a destroyer, is rendering assistance, report Rory Jones, Benoit Faucon and Costas Paris.
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According to government officials in Japan and ship operators, two tankers with oil bound for Asia came under a suspected attack early Thursday local time.
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U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain, which oversees U.S. naval operations in the region, received two distress calls about the attacks on the tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
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First Lady Melania Trump, President Trump, Polish President Andrzej Duda and First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda watch a flyover of an F-35 fighter. Photo by SHAWN THEW/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
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Mr. Trump agreed to send 1,000 additional U.S. troops to Poland but won't establish a permanent U.S. base in the country. The president treated his visiting Polish counterpart to a military flyover at the White House as thanks for a commitment to buy F-35 fighter jets, Alex Leary reports.
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Mr. Trump said he would consider accepting damaging information on his 2020 rivals if a foreign government offered it. The president, speaking to ABC News, added that he might not divulge such information to the FBI, disputing the idea that it could be considered foreign interference in a U.S. election, Alex Leary reports.
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Share Your Thoughts: How should a campaign handle an offer of information on its rivals from a foreign government? Join the conversation.
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On April 5, President Trump, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner for Customs and Border Protection at the time and now the acting Homeland Security secretary, visited the southern border. PHOTO: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS
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In the past two months, almost every top job on immigration policy has turned over once—and in some cases, twice. The approach to filling the ranks of official positions has tested the limits of longstanding Washington practices, reports Louise Radnofsky.
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The heads of the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are all among the leaders working on an "acting" basis, and Mr. Trump says it works for him. Get used to hearing even more names, because in order to let Ken Cucinnelli continue as acting head of USCIS past January, the administration will likely have to nominate someone else as its official pick for the job.
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— Louise Radnofsky | louise.radnofsky@wsj.com
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For the first time since at least 1965, less than half—47%—of all foreigners living in the U.S. illegally are from Mexico, according to a Pew Research Center study. Jeff Passel, senior Pew demographer, said the decline is likely the result of both increased border security and an improving
Mexico economy.
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An Army base in Oklahoma will temporarily house migrant children amid a surge in arrests at the border, Talal Ansari reports. An estimated 1,400 children will be temporarily housed at Fort Sill. The Office of Refugee Resettlement estimates it will care for the largest number of migrant children in its nearly 40-year history this year.
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Border Worries Are Bipartisan. The Path Forward Is Not.
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Lawmakers in both parties are making a renewed push to fulfill at least some of the Trump administration’s request for $4.5 billion at the southern border.
The Senate Appropriations Committee will vote on a $4.5 billion package in committee next Wednesday to address what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said is a border “in a state of crisis.” The president asked for the money to address the large numbers of people who are fleeing violence and poverty in Central America and seeking asylum in the U.S.
In the House, Republicans staged a pair of procedural maneuvers Wednesday to attempt to adjourn the chamber, forcing members to come to the floor for unscheduled votes.
Rep. Chip Roy (R., Texas) , one of the lawmakers who moved to adjourn the chamber, said he hoped the procedural move would earn the “attention of the people the absolute crisis and tragedy that is occurring on the southern border of the United States.”
The situation on the southern border certainly has the attention of congressional Democrats. House Democratic leaders and top appropriators held a meeting Wednesday afternoon to chart a path forward on the administration’s request. Democrats have rebuffed the administration’s desire to provide more funding for border enforcement, focusing instead on providing money to house and shelter the people entering the U.S.
Democrats are working to formulate a proposal that the entire caucus can support. Some members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus have been particularly skeptical of how the administration might use any new funding.
“We have to figure out how we can put something together that everybody can” support, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D., Calif,), who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee focused on the Department of Homeland Security, said. “Even if it’s holding your nose and voting for it.”
Some of the issues complicating negotiations for the administration’s emergency request have also popped up as lawmakers write appropriations bills for the next fiscal year, providing a preview of the coming funding fight. Democratic efforts to limit the information governmental agencies can share about people who come forward to sponsor an unaccompanied child have been particularly controversial.
“Anything that has anything to do with immigration is going to be difficult,” said Ms. Roybal-Allard “It just is."
Write to Andrew Duehren at andrew.duehren@wsj.com
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A House panel voted to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress. The vote, mostly along party lines, was for ignoring the House Oversight Committee's subpoena seeking information about efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, Natalie Andrews reports.
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Share Your Thoughts: Should the census ask about your citizenship status? Why? Why not? Join the conversation.
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The WSJ’s Lorie Hirose explains the 2020 census debate. Photo illustration: Adele Morgan
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Former Trump aide Hope Hicks has agreed to provide closed-door testimony to the House Judiciary Committee. The agreement is a small breakthrough for congressional Democrats frustrated by the White House's resistance to their efforts to investigate Mr. Trump over matters related to the Mueller investigation, Dustin Volz and Siobhan Hughes report.
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More pressure: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff threatened to subpoena FBI Director Chris Wray to learn whether a probe into 2016 Russian election interference is still active.
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Congress is considering a cost-of-living increase for itself for the first time since 2009, sparking vigorous intra-party disagreements, reports Gabriel T. Rubin. Some members support the increases as common-sense measures that are unremarkable for private-sector workers and others are channeling voter distaste for Washington.
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Where Some Will Try to Chip Away at Trump's Power
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There may be a renewed effort from lawmakers to pull back some executive powers from the presidency and restore them to Congress. Here's a look at three key areas.
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Facebook uncovered emails that appear to show CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s connection to potentially problematic privacy practices. The potential impact of the emails has been a factor in the tech giant’s desire to reach a speedy settlement of an FTC investigation, report John D. McKinnon, Emily Glazer, Deepa Seetharaman and Jeff Horwitz.
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The FTC probe began after reports that personal data of tens of millions of Facebook users improperly wound up in the hands of data firm Cambridge Analytica, which worked on Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign.
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In a move that escalates tensions between China's Huawei and the U.S., Huawei has told Verizon Communications the carrier should pay licensing fees on over 200 of its patents, Sarah Krouse reports. The U.S. has said Huawei’s growing clout poses a national security threat.
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Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat running for president, greeted people Monday at a cafe in Storm Lake, Iowa. PHOTO: JERRY MENNENGA/ZUMA PRESS
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A few 2020 presidential candidates are at risk of not making the cut for the June 26-27 debates in Miami, reports Ken Thomas. The debates will offer crucial exposure. The first Republican presidential debate in August 2015 attracted 24 million viewers, according to Nielsen data.
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Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Wayne Messam, the mayor of Miramar, Fla., have yet to notch the DNC’s polling and donor requirements, putting them on the brink.
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The nation’s oldest military honor, the Purple Heart, is in the crossfire of a fight between military service organizations. As a result, thousands of veterans who have relied on the groups to help manage their disability claims, could be stranded, reports Ben Kesling.
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There have been furloughs among Military Order of the Purple Heart case workers, who manage about 130,000 disability claims a year. The Order’s 70 case workers have been told they wouldn’t be getting paid.
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Police fired tear-gas canisters at demonstrators in the former British colony as protests continued over a Beijing-backed extradition law. Photo by ATHIT PERAWONGMETHA/REUTERS
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Washington is watching closely as a standoff over China’s encroachment on Hong Kong's legal autonomy deepened. The financial center’s Beijing-backed government showed no signs of yielding during a second day of widespread demonstrations, Natasha Khan, John Lyons and Mike Bird report.
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“I hope it all works out for China and for Hong Kong. I’m sure they’ll be able to work it out.”
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— President Trump, expressing concern over the unrest
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Starbucks founder Howard Schultz is making significant cuts in staff for his independent presidential run and suspending political plans for the summer. (Huffpost)
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Democrats didn't generate much interest when they called John Dean, White House counsel for Richard Nixon, to testify this week on the meaning of the Mueller report. (Daily Beast)
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The new conservative majority on the Supreme Court is showing that it is prepared to overturn big court precedents, and thereby dramatically change the impact the court has on Americans' lives. (Washington Post)
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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 on our Politics page and at @wsjpolitics on Twitter.
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