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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 meets with congressional Democrats this morning at the White House to discuss infrastructure. He presents the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor this afternoon.
House Democrats: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), who has expressed skepticism about the wisdom of pursuing the impeachment of Mr. Trump, plans to hold a special meeting today to discuss oversight and investigations.
Mnuchin: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testifies before the House Financial Services Committee starting at 9 a.m. EDT.
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Video: House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler says the committee will go to court if necessary to secure former White House counsel Don McGahn’s testimony after he defied a subpoena.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's list of options to avert Democrats' calls for the initiation of impeachment proceedings against President Trump are narrowing, report Siobhan Hughes and Natalie Andrews. Mrs. Pelosi has fended off such calls for months, counseling patience and assuring lawmakers that the full suite of oversight tools in the House’s arsenal would be the best course to hold Mr. Trump to account for efforts to curtail special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
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She has also warned of the electoral risks for Democrats of launching an impeachment inquiry.
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But Tuesday’s escalation in the battle between the executive and legislative branches pushed some key Democrats further down the path toward impeachment.
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The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed former White House officials Hope Hicks and Annie Donaldson for documents and testimony, a day after another former official rebuffed the panel’s subpoena at the White House’s direction, reports Rebecca Ballhaus.
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The Republican National Committee spent about $2.2 million last month on legal fees, boosting the overall tab for lawyers paid by the party, the Trump campaign and a legal defense fund to about $17 million since President Trump took office, reports Julie Bykowicz. Jones Day collected almost all of the money, according to an FEC report.
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For Democrats on Judiciary Committee, Impeachment Risk Is Most Acute
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The impeachment question is particularly acute for the few Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee who represent competitive districts.
One of the primary arguments that House Democratic leadership has advanced against impeachment has been the potential political peril of such a direct attack on President Trump. Impeaching the president, the thinking goes, could invigorate his supporters and blow back on Democrats in the 2020 election.
With a growing number of Democrats calling for the House to begin an impeachment inquiry, Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, which would conduct the proceedings, are especially vulnerable.
Most Democrats on the Judiciary Committee hold safe seats, an effort by the House leadership to shield more vulnerable members from the bitter partisan politics associated with the panel’s work. But not all.
Rep. Lucy McBath (D., Ga.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, flipped a congressional seat in the Atlanta suburbs in 2018. The district, once represented by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, leans Republican, and leading an impeachment effort against a Republican president would carry political risks. Ms. McBath opposes impeaching Mr. Trump.
“We don’t want to have to do that,” she said. “There is no other redress, no recourse at this point other than to go to court.”
The Democratic leadership could try to isolate an impeachment inquiry politically in the Judiciary Committee, enabling members from competitive districts who do not sit on that panel to keep their distance.
Republicans, though, would attack all Democrats for supporting impeachment.
Write to Andrew Duehren at andrew.duehren@wsj.com
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Congressional leaders began negotiations with the White House over a two-year budget deal but hit a sticking point over Democrats’ efforts to raise non-military spending, report Kristina Peterson and Andrew Duehren. "We’re trying to come to an agreement and one of the biggest questions is how to fund all of the needs of the middle class on the domestic side,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters.
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Mr. Trump told Democrats that Congress should approve his trade deal with Canada and Mexico before taking up infrastructure legislation, reports Michael C. Bender. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said they looked forward to hearing his plan to fund a $2 trillion infrastructure package.
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Three 2020 Democratic Candidates to Keep an Eye On
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The Democratic field for the 2020 presidential election has already swelled to its largest ever, with 23 major candidates. While Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are leading the pack at this early stage, there are three other hopefuls worth watching.
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The U.S. is preparing measures including criminal charges and sanctions against people involved in Venezuela’s military-run emergency food program, report Ian Talley, Aruna Viswanatha and Kejal Vyas—part of an effort to target what U.S. officials describe as a large-scale money-laundering operation run by the government.
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The prospects for an Iranian attack on Americans have been put “on hold,” Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan said, outlining a reduction of the potential threat after earlier U.S. intelligence suggested a high degree of danger, reports Nancy A. Youssef.
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President Trump travels to Japan this week to keep up the pressure for a trade deal, while showing he is still aligned with Tokyo on North Korea policy. Mr. Trump has said the quantity of auto imports was so great "as to threaten to impair the national security of the United States."
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On China trade, the administration doesn’t need allies' support, but sanctions will be less effective with the U.S. acting alone, writes Greg Ip. Far from leading a coalition of the willing against China, the president is leading a coalition of the ambivalent, sullen and resentful.
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U.S. officials said they'd grant a handful of temporary exceptions to an export blacklist against China's Huawei Technologies, giving some suppliers and customers of the telecom giant a reprieve from trade penalties and easing tensions, report John D. McKinnon and Dan Strumpf.
Huawei denounced U.S. actions against the company as "bullying" and implored European governments to resist American pressure to follow suit.
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Economist Judy Shelton, a potential nominee to the Federal Reserve, said she would press for a change in how the central bank sets interest rates. She pointed to Mr. Trump's tax and regulatory policies as an example of a tool for supporting growth, reports Nick Timiraos.
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Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's arrival at the Capitol was handled with extreme secrecy. (Daily Beast)
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Republicans can get mad at Rep. Justin Amash all they want, but he’s still Congress's biggest fiscal conservative. (Washington Examiner)
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Working mother and fathers can end the plague of secret parenting. (The Atlantic)
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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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