The Atlantic Politics & Policy Daily: Cuomo’s Joint Effort

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo explicitly said for the first time that he supports legalizing recreational marijuana in New York and announced that it would be one of his legislative priorities in early 2019.

Mary Altaffer / AP

Written by Olivia Paschal (@oliviacpaschal) and Madeleine Carlisle (@maddiecarlisle2)


Today in 5 Lines

  • Republican Senator Lamar Alexander announced that he would not seek reelection in 2020, setting up Tennessee for its second Senate election in two years after Republican Marsha Blackburn won her seat in November.

  • New York Governor Andrew Cuomo explicitly said for the first time that he supports legalizing recreational marijuana in New York and announced that it would be one of his legislative priorities in early 2019.

  • Two new reports released by the Senate Intelligence Committee detail how Russian trolls attempted to depress voter turnout among African Americans in the 2016 campaign.

  • Former FBI Director James Comey testified in a closed-door hearing in front of the House Judiciary and Oversight committees, after already testifying for six hours earlier this month.

  • A former business partner of Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national-security adviser, was charged with conspiracy and acting as an agent of a foreign country after lobbying to have a Turkish cleric extradited from the U.S.


Today on The Atlantic


Snapshot

Furniture to be moved sits in the hall outside congressional offices weeks before the end of the term, as dozens of outgoing and incoming members of Congress move into and out of Washington. (Reuters / Jonathan Ernst)


What We’re Reading

How to Win in 2020: The Democrats’ best chance to take the White House is to put forward an economic populist, argues David Leonhardt. (The New York Times)

‘A Trump Personality Cult’: The death of The Weekly Standard marks a turning point in not only conservative media, but also conservative ideology. (Seth Masket, Pacific Standard)

Testing the Waters: Julian Castro, the former secretary of housing and urban development, is thinking about running for president. Could he have a shot at turning Texas blue? (Ryan C. Brooks, BuzzFeed News)

Who’s to Blame?: Paul Ryan is on the conservative speaking circuit blaming everybody but himself for the current state of American politics, writes Tara Golshan. (Vox)


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