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Capital Journal
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Good morning from the WSJ's Washington bureau.
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Trump Administration: President Trump holds a call with anti-abortion activists, and meets with Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen. Vice President Mike Pence continues his trip to Poland and Germany.
Trade Talks: A high-level U.S. delegation is scheduled to start two days of talks with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and his entourage.
Congress: The House is expected to vote on spending bills needed to keep the government open. The Senate may follow.
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Migrants cross the Rio Grande to the U.S., in front of the construction of the barrier that divides the border between Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and the U.S. PHOTO: DAVID PEINADO/PACIFIC PRESS/ZUMA PRESS
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President Trump is likely to sign the border-security deal lawmakers reached this week, Rebecca Ballhaus, Kristina Peterson and Peter Nicholas report. The bill would keep the government open past Friday and mark a potential concession by the president on his demands for wall funding. Congress agreed to allocate $1.38 billion for physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, far less than the $5.7 billion Mr. Trump had sought.
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“We have got a lot of funds for a lot of other things,” Mr. Trump said, without providing details. “With a wall, they want to be stingy. We have options that most people don’t really understand.”
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Mr. Trump has floated declaring a national emergency to redirect funds to the wall, bypassing Congress.
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A federal judge ruled that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to investigators, violating a plea deal. The ruling voids the government’s obligations under the agreement to offer him leniency in exchange for his cooperation in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, report Byron Tau and Aruna Viswanatha.
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A former U.S. counterintelligence officer was accused of giving Iran information about highly classified U.S. programs after defecting there. Monica Elfriede Witt is accused of disclosing information that helped Iran target her former Air Force colleagues, Aruna Viswanatha and Dustin Volz report.
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The indictment is part of the Trump administration’s latest effort to step up pressure on Iran’s alleged intelligence operations against the U.S. Here are some highlights from the indictment:
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Ms. Witt, 39, traveled to Iran in 2013. She had boasted to a contact that she might “do like Snowden” and go public with a trove of highly classified information about U.S. operations overseas.
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She was in the Air Force from 1997 until 2008.
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Four Iranians were also charged. They are accused of conducting a hacking campaign for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan yesterday tried to reassure NATO allies unsettled by Mr. Trump’s approach to the alliance. He praised the secretary general for “generating more cash, more resources.”
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House Democrats' Agenda Begins to Take Shape
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Now that there's a tentative deal in Congress to avoid another government shutdown, how will Democrats use their majority in the House to advance their own agenda?
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GOP Strategy Emerges in Amendment to Yemen Bill
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A successful House Republican effort to amend a Democratic bill limiting U.S. support for the Saudi war in Yemen signals how Republicans may plan to use their limited minority powers in the chamber.
Republicans proposed adding an amendment denouncing anti-Semitism to the Yemen legislation the same week that comments from Rep. Ihan Omar (D., Minn.) were widely criticized as anti-Semitic. Ms. Omar has apologized, but the public reversal put Democrats on the defensive and gave Republicans an opening.
Democrats ultimately supported the amendment as well. Republicans were quick to celebrate their ability to add the amendment through the "motion to recommit" procedure -- and briefly disrupt the passage of the legislation. Most Republicans then voted against the Yemen bill, which included the anti-Semitism measure.
“They were trying to embarrass us, and they played a game,” said Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland. “And when the game didn’t work, they decided, well we’re not going to vote for our amendment.”
The Wednesday maneuvering could signal Republicans’ future tactics. They gambits are unlikely to have any legislative effect. But they could feed efforts, especially on Israel, where Republicans believe they are gaining an upper hand because of controversial comments of Democratic lawmakers such as Ms. Omar.
"Republicans NEVER lost a [motion to recommit] vote in the majority. It’s been a month and a half and Democrat leadership have already lost all of their members on this,” wrote a spokeswoman for Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 House Republican. "Buckle up... ."
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An EPA research unit that evaluates health risks from chemicals has seen its work stymied by EPA leadership, according to a government watchdog. EPA officials disputed the findings, reports Heidi Vogt.
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The EPA's chemical research program holds a unique position in the agency. The political leadership directs its priorities but its findings are intentionally independent of any part of the EPA that crafts regulations. We'd expect any new administration to revisit research priorities, but this report raises the question of whether the Trump EPA is taking that much further than its predecessors.
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— Heidi Vogt | heidi.vogt@wsj.com
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FEMA Administrator Brock Long is resigning. The top disaster relief official had come under fire for his unauthorized use of government vehicles. He told senior staff at the agency on Tuesday that he planned to step down in two weeks for family reasons, Michael C. Bender reports.
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The administration has named prominent business executives to its newly formed workforce-policy advisory board, including the leaders of Apple Inc. and Home Depot Inc. The board will focus on worker training and matching workers to job opportunities, Tim Hanrahan reports.
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Mark Calabria, Mr. Trump’s pick to help overhaul how many Americans finance house purchases, testifies in the Senate. He is expected to face questions about the future of the popular 30-year-mortgage, reports Andrew Ackerman. As FHFA chief, he would have the power to curtail Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s purchases of the loans.
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While working at the think-tank the Cato Institute, he advocated for curtailing government support for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.
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Lawmakers who have met with Mr. Calabria describe him as smart and personable. And even Democratic opponents are unlikely to gang up too much on him because he’s a former Senate staffer. (Lawmakers tend to give some degree of deference to former aides.) While Democrats like Sherrod Brown of Ohio have signaled they are unlikely to support his nomination, Republican support is expected to be strong.
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— Andrew Ackerman | andrew.ackerman@wsj.com
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The House passed a war-powers resolution directing the removal of U.S. armed forces involved in the conflict in Yemen, Joshua Jamerson reports. The move sets up a contentious vote in the GOP-controlled Senate and the possibility of a veto by President Trump.
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Senate Republicans are moving to accelerate the process for confirming many judicial and executive nominees. That sets up another showdown with Democrats over the influence of the minority party in the chamber’s procedures, writes Andrew Duehren.
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Federal tax revenue declined 0.4% in 2018, the first full calendar year under the new tax law, despite robust economic growth and the lowest unemployment rate in nearly five decades, reports Kate Davidson.
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The Democrats' Green New Deal would be absurdly expensive and deeply partisan—and thus more likely to set back than advance the climate cause, writes Greg Ip. Germany’s experience is illustrative.
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President Trump is correct in his claim that construction has started on new portions of a border wall along the Rio Grande. (Washington Examiner)
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New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker says he would be "looking to women first" in picking a running mate. (HuffPost)
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Civil-rights leader and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson writes that freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may be under fire, but supports progressive ideas that have broad public support. (Chicago Sun-Times)
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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.
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