Today in Politics, Bulletin 435. 8/7/26

… After Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced last night that she was voting against the nomination of Trump’s criminal defense lawyer Todd Blanche to be AG, it all came down to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who said he was going to make his announcement at 10:40 AM.

… Some people held out hope that Cassidy would vote against Blanche since Trump relentlessly attacked and ousted Cassidy in the Republican primary, ending his political career. But Cassidy has decided to leave the senate the same way he spent most of his time there - as a spineless coward.

… Cassidy: "Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this. But the choice is not between perfection and Blanche. It is between Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under Trump, and who indeed may not be as good as Blanche."

… So he’s voting to confirm Blanche because he thinks Trump might pick someone even worse if he doesn’t. This is where we are.

… Meidas reporter Pablo Manriquez asked Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) about it: “Yeah, this is disappointing because we’ve heard from our Republican colleagues that they want an AG who’s going to stand up for the Constitution, and now they’re voting for an AG who has really pledged his loyalty to Trump. I mean, this is Trump’s former personal attorney, and every day that he’s has been in the DOJ, he’s been acting not like the AG, but as Trump’s personal attorney. So this is a sad day for DOJ.”

… And so Cassidy nears the end of his unprincipled political career despised by Trump, MAGA, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, Socialists, MAHA - pretty much everyone. What a generational run.

… Murkowski: “I will oppose his nomination. I take issue with the handling of the release of the Epstein files; the sweeping immunity protections granted to the President, his family, and their businesses; the statements that have been made to anti-abortion groups; and the repeated targeting of individuals ranging from former admin staff to sitting US Senators.”

… “I am also keenly aware that DOJ’s nearly $2-billion dollar slush fund—which likely would have rewarded January 6 protesters—is only off the table because this nomination is pending and the Senate has leverage. Once we vote, that will end, and there is no telling what the future holds.”

… “The country needs an AG who will check the worst impulses of this admin. I hope Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”

… CNBC: “The US economy saw an unexpected declined in jobs during July while the unemployment rate edged lower. Nonfarm payrolls fell by a seasonally adjusted 23,000 for the month, compared with a downwardly revised 20,000 for June. The Dow Jones consensus forecast had been looking for a gain of 83,000.”

… “At the same time, the unemployment slipped to 4.1% as the labor force participation rate fell further to 61.4%, its lowest in more than 5 years, another indication that fewer Americans were working or looking for jobs.”

… CNBC announcing the jobs report numbers live: “Minus - MINUS 23,000 on non-farm payrolls. That would be the second worst number of the year. Revisions? Another whopper! Minus 103,000. Average hourly earnings - another big miss!”

… Fox announcing the report: “Minus 23,000! No rebound for the July jobs report. A disappointing jobs report.”

… Fox brought WH economic advisor Kevin Hassett on for his typical routine of lying about the latest set of dismal numbers:

• Q - “We’ve had 3 months now of real weakness in the job market. Is the economy moving into a new phrase where we’re losing jobs? That would not be good politically for the president. Hassett: I don’t think that’s what we’re seeing at all. One of the things we have to remember is that because we’ve been deporting folks, that put downward pressure on what the breakeven job number is.”

• Q - Why did the economy lost 50,000 govt jobs? Hassett: “It was one of those weird seasonal things. Because there was a lot of snow in the winter, a lot of schools had to stay open longer for the snow days, so the teachers got laid off in July instead of the end of June.”

… Economist Justin Wolfers: “That’s a big kick in the guts. Payrolls is much weaker, and the US lost -23k jobs in March, well below expectations of +80k. Huge downward revisions, too: May now +63k (instead of +129k), June now +20k (down from +53k).
Very bad news. Revise down your views substantially.”

… “Here’s why this is so grim. Folks expected jobs growth to slow to +80k, but we got -23k. Also downward revisions to the last two months subtracted a total of -103k.
So over the past 3 months, the US economy created about -200k fewer jobs than we had thought.”

… Economist Heather Long: “This is a bleak jobs report. The US labor market is stalling again and that is going to make the Fed’s job harder and life for job seekers rough. The big surprise was job losses in July. But that was only the beginning of the bad news. The unemployment rate fell for the wrong reasons. People continue to leave the labor force.”

… “Labor force participation is at the lowest level since Feb 2021. Even worse is that wage growth cooled to a mere 3.2%, the lowest level in 5 years. This is not what workers need as inflation soars again. Healthcare is the main industry hiring again. That’s not helpful for the economy.”

… Politico: “TN GOP Rep. Andy Ogles was ousted by a Republican challenger on Thursday, a blow to Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson who tried to boost his campaign in the final days. Former TN Ag Commissioner Charlie Hatcher won the primary after outraising Ogles, receiving a late endorsement from Gov. Bill Lee and seeing a flood of outside money on his behalf from a renewable energy super PAC.”

… “Ultimately, that spending, coupled with a newly redrawn district that forced Ogles to reach new voters, helped end his reelection bid. Ogles has also faced a number of controversies since he was first elected in 2022.”

… “He deleted a homophobic social media post that was denounced by members of his own party in June, and he drew severe backlash for another post in which he said ‘Muslims don’t belong in American society.’ In 2024, the FBI searched Ogles’ phone during an investigation into campaign finance records. And in 2023, he faced scrutiny for false claims about his resume.”

… “Ogles’ loss makes him the second Trump-endorsed candidate to lose a primary this week, after a Michigan House candidate who had the president’s backing fell to a challenger who had already dropped out.”

… Semafor’s Dave Weigel: “Ogles joins Dan Crenshaw in the elite club of Republicans who might have gotten reelected in their old seats, but couldn’t in the new districts drawn by their own party to get rid of Democrats.”

… CNN reporter Aaron Blake: “Ogles is the second Trump-backed House candidate to lose this week (after Amir Hassan in Michigan). Trump is now up to 6 failed endorsements this primary season, which is more than 2018, 2020 and 2024.”

… Knox News: “There will be 3 new faces and a 5-4 Democratic majority on the Knox County school board next month after Brandy Jenkins flipped a reliably Republican South Knox County seat in the Aug. 6 election. A standing ovation broke out for Jenkins at the Democratic watch party as she clinched the win in District 9, defeating Republican Bill Sofield.”

… Jenkins to the exuberant crowd: “I cannot wait to sit alongside Breyauna Holloway, Anne Templeton, Patricia Fontenot-Ridley in District 3 and Kat Bike. I will serve you proud. I can’t wait to serve our community. We did it guys. We flipped the school board. We can actually advocate for things that are going to matter.”

… Knox is the 3rd largest school district in TN and has been a solid Republican part of the state.

… Craig Mauger with Detroit News: Multiple Republicans told me that Amir Hassan lost his race for the US House because of his name. He was defeated by an opponent who had dropped out of the race before the election. One Republican: “They’re scared of the Arab Americans taking over in the area.”

… Mike Johnson was on CSPAN defending Max Miller again: “We don’t take disciplinary action against members for allegations. It’s in his own words ‘a nasty divorce proceeding’. He thinks it’s a hit job on him.”

… Semafor: “Chuck Schumer’s Democrats are on the offensive in 6 states currently held by Republicans. He’s eyeing more. Schumer said that he’s paying close attention to KS Democrats after pastor Adam Hamilton won the Dem nomination to face Sen. Roger Marshall. Schumer called Hamilton a ‘moderate; he has 40 churches in KS, and 100,000 people listen to a sermon every Sunday. That’s a lot of people.”

… And though he said it’s still a “long shot,” Schumer sees potential in MS Democrat Scott Colom’s run against Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. He called Hyde-Smith “extremely weak” and Colom a “tough prosecutor who’s won elections in a tough district.” All told, Schumer is now looking at competing for 8 GOP-held seats - AK, ME, NC, OH, TX, IA, KS, and MS - while his party needs to net 4 seats to flip the majority.

… Schumer: “That’s how you build a majority, by expanding the map. And I’d like to build a majority that not only is in 2026, but on into the future. We’re always looking to expand the map with candidates who fit their states.”

… Axios: “Read the polls, watch economic indicators and talk to Trump’s inner circle in private, and the verdict on his second term seems clear: Even some longtime insiders fear he’s trapped by a war he shouldn’t have waged, tariffs he shouldn’t have levied, monuments he shouldn’t be obsessed with.”

… These 3 topics chew up much of Trump’s time and attention. All 3 are widely unpopular in polls. NYT reporter Maggie Haberman estimates 70% of the president’s mindshare goes to renovations and monuments. A Trump insider: “He concentrates on the hobbies that distract from his terrible polling numbers, about which he is in denial. The other issue is how the war, tariffs and monuments are demoralizing the base.”

… “And we keep hearing complaints from top Republicans about Trump’s reluctance to unleash the $400 million cache built by his super PAC. The unwillingness to spend big, now, in game-changing races has ‘demoralized donors,’ the insider said. There’s a saying in politics that campaigns are won and lost in the summer. For Republicans, this was the Trump-induced summer of discontent.”

… Trump gave an interview to Punchbowl editor Jake Sherman:

• On Murkowski voting against Blanche: “I’m against Murkowski. I do more for Alaska than any president in history. No president’s done for Alaska what I’ve done. She’s not good.”

• Q: “How many individuals take advantage of birth tourism? Trump: I’ll tell you right now, hundreds of thousands. You have one man came in with a family had said he had 56 children. Another one came in - they said they had 98 children.

… I’m a little skeptical of those numbers.

• Q - “Democrats want to impose ethics restrictions and limit your family’s ability to conduct crypto business while in office. How do you feel about that? Trump: We’ve done a great job on it, but they want me to be different than everybody else. Q - So you’re against it? Trump: I let my kids run it. I never talk to them about it. I don’t talk to them about much other than to say, ‘I love you kids.’“

• He said he has no obligation to campaign for Republicans in the midterms: “I didn’t have to be away in NV yesterday, I didn’t have to be in LA yesterday making speeches. I didn’t have to be supporting all the people. You know, I have a busy schedule.”

• “I said to somebody, ‘I won. I’m not campaigning’. The question is… If I don’t run, will those people go out and vote? And that’s the one thing I can’t tell you.”

• Trump said he’ll ask his MAGA supporters to vote, but said: “A lot of them are angry at Republicans. They’re not angry at me. But they are angry at Republicans.”

… Sounds a lot like someone who knows the midterms are going to be a disaster and is already preemptively trying to distance himself from them so he can blame other people.

… Puck: “Top Trump political advisers gave senators a briefing yesterday on the midterms. They didn’t address about the one thing everyone cares about: When and how will MAGA Inc. spend its $400 million. Some wondered what was the point of the briefing.”

… These people actually think Trump raised $400 million to spend it on them because he’s a team player. How cute.

… 75 year old, lifelong Republican John Gannon told CBS that he no longer supports Trump after ICE arrested his 45 year old Venezuelan girlfriend: “I voted for Trump. They are picking up law abiding people, they’re destroying families, jobs. I wouldn’t vote for him again, not after this. 8 ICE agents swarmed Jasmine. I was in total disbelief.”

… That’s what he voted for!

We are just 88 days until the midterms and I feel the mixture of excitement and anger building among Democrats and discontent, disillusionment and apathy from Republicans. Big changes are coming in a lot of places all over the country - federal, state and local. I can’t wait to vote.

I’m off tomorrow and will be back with the Weekend Bulletin on Sunday night. Wild blueberry harvest season has concluded here in Maine and this weekend is the big Wild Blueberry Festival. So we are going to that to check out a million different things made with blueberries from lot of amazing Maine home cooks.

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… Politico: “A federal appeals court panel has ruled against Trump’s attempt to unilaterally demolish portions of the WH to build a massive ballroom, saying the unprecedented project requires congressional approval. The appeals court put its