The Atlantic Politics & Policy Daily: I Am Spartacus
Democratic Senator Cory Booker said he was willing to risk expulsion from the Senate by releasing documents related to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh that had been marked confidential.
Written by Madeleine Carlisle (@maddiecarlisle2), Olivia Paschal (@oliviacpaschal), and Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey)
Today in 5 Lines
-
Democratic Senator Cory Booker said he was willing to risk expulsion from the Senate by releasing documents related to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh that had been marked confidential. Lawyers for George W. Bush, however, said they approved the release of the documents Wednesday night.
-
Twitter announced that it has permanently banned conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his website, Infowars.
-
The Trump administration said it plans to withdraw from a federal court agreement that limits how long children can be held in immigration detention.
-
The New York attorney general’s office has subpoenaed every Catholic diocese in the state as part of an investigation into how the Church reviewed and possibly covered up allegations of sexual abuse.
-
Three people were killed and two were wounded after a gunman opened fire in downtown Cincinnati, authorities said. The suspect is also dead.
The Race We’re Watching
Voters in Delaware are headed to the polls for the state’s primary, where first-time candidate Kerri Evelyn Harris, a young, African American Air Force veteran, is challenging longtime Senator Tom Carper for the Democratic nomination. It’s a longshot, but her supporters have hope that she’ll be the latest insurgent candidate to topple an establishment lawmaker. The winner will likely prevail against the Republican nominee in November.
Polls close at 8 p.m. ET.
Today on The Atlantic
-
Where in the World Is Christopher Steele?: A Florida judge’s ruling has foiled Senator Chuck Grassley’s repeated attempts to obtain the testimony of former British spy Christopher Steele. (Natasha Bertrand)
-
The Bullet in My Arm: Elaina Plott reflects on how her views on guns changed after she was shot.
-
On the Ground: Organizers for Working America, a grassroots group that’s canvassed 400,000 voters around the country since the 2016 election, say that Democrats still face an uphill battle to engage working-class voters. (Ronald Brownstein)
-
Minus Two Million: A new study finds that eligibility requirements for SNAP in the House farm bill would result in 2 million people losing food stamp benefits. (Vann R. Newkirk II and Olivia Paschal)
Snapshot
What We’re Reading
New Power: Americans are witnessing the most significant political shift in decades, writes Melanye Price: “[T]he era of centrist black politicians is on the wane. The time of black progressives is in ascent.” (The New York Times)
Here to Stay: Nearly 60 Democratic House candidates have called for new leadership. But Nancy Pelosi remains unfazed. (Molly Ball, Time)
What Are the Consequences?: An avalanche of sexual-abuse allegations against Catholic clergy has implicated many of the Church’s top officials. Will they go to prison? (Alex Norcia, Vice)
Nothing New: The anonymous op-ed by a senior Trump administration official in The New York Times makes it seems like Trump is the only president whose advisers have ever disagreed with him. He's not, says Nick Gillespie. (Reason)
Visualized
The Coming of Gen Z: This year, 17 million people are entering the workforce. Here's what we know about them. (Janet Adamy, Tyler Paige, and Jieqian Zhang, The Wall Street Journal)
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Midterms?: Historical data shows that the GOP has reason to worry about the midterm elections. (John McCormick and Gregory Giroux, Bloomberg)