The Edge: Palin Pledges Allegiance to Trump
Today in One Paragraph
Sarah Palin endorsed Donald Trump for president, and Hillary Clinton received the backing of the largest LGBT-rights group in the U.S. The Supreme Court announced that it will take up the legal battle concerning the Obama administration’s signature immigration program. In Flint, Michigan, two new lawsuits against government officials over the water-contamination crisis were announced. And the United Nations released a report highlighting the “staggering” level of civilian casualties in Iraq over nearly 2 years.
Top News
A ‘Major Announcement.’ Former vice-presidential nominee and Tea Party icon Sarah Palin endorsed Donald Trump for president, according to a statement provided to The New York Times. Palin will appear at a rally in Iowa with the Republican frontrunner later today. (Maggie Haberman, The New York Times)
HRC for HRC. The Human Rights Campaign put its support behind the leading Democratic presidential contender, Hillary Clinton, on Tuesday. “While they fight to take us backwards, Hillary Clinton is fighting to advance LGBT equality across our nation and throughout the world,” the organization’s president, Chad Griffin, said in a statement. (Rebecca Shabad, CBS News)
United States v. Texas. The Supreme Court said that it will decide the constitutionality of Obama’s immigration program, which would shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation. The justices will likely hear arguments in April, and issue a decision before the term ends in June. (Robert Barnes, The Washington Post)
Class Action in Flint. Residents of the Michigan city who believe they were exposed to lead-tainted water and Legionella bacteria filed suit against government officials. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, who is named in some of the lawsuits, is expected to discuss the crisis in his State of the State address tonight. (Mike Martindale and Jonathan Oosting, The Detroit News)
Casualties in Iraq. At least 18,802 civilians were killed as a result of conflict in Iraq between January 2014 and October 2015, according to a newly released United Nations report. The country is in the midst of battling the Islamic State, which the UN estimates is also holding around 3,500 slaves. (Khushbu Shah and Tim Hume, CNN)
Tomorrow in One Paragraph: President Obama will be in Detroit, Michigan, meeting with residents about the auto industry. On the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton will fundraise in Texas while Ben Carson attends a fundraiser in Los Angeles. Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Chris Christie head back to stump in New Hampshire, where Ted Cruz and John Kasich are also campaigning. And in Iowa, Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Santorum try to win over last-minute support with less than two weeks until the caucuses.
Follow stories throughout the day with our new Politics & Policy page. And keep on top of the campaign with our 2016 Distilled election dashboard.
Top Read:
“As the Kochs prepare to launch the most ambitious political effort of their lives, they appear to be undergoing the best image overhaul that their money can buy.” The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer on the Koch brothers’ “crisscrossing” political interests.
Top Lines
The Great Immigration-Data Debate. “Massaged and manipulated data” have triumphed over reason in the debate over whether the flow of immigrants depresses the wages of blue-collar workers. (David Frum, The Atlantic)
19 Weeks of Chaos. The crowded GOP field could lead to an even “longer, harder fight” in the presidential primary than Republican leaders expected. Here’s Politico Magazine’s Benjamin Ginsberg on what to expect and when to expect it.
Top Views
Overdose Deaths in the U.S. A surge across the country is, in large part, a result of a spike in prescription painkiller and heroin abuse. These maps illustrate the progression of the epidemic. (Haeyoun Park and Matthew Bloch, The New York Times)
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