Trump’s Second Term Might Have Already Peaked

Sign up for Trump’s Return, a newsletter featuring coverage of the second Trump presidency. Ever since Donald Trump emerged as a credible threat to return to the White House, the guardrails that seemed to restrain him in his first term—political, legal, psychic—have collapsed with astonishing speed. His nominees are sailing through their confirmation hearings, including some who are underqualified and ideologically extreme. Titans of business and media are throwing themselves at his feet as supplicants. He has obliterated long-standing norms, unashamedly soliciting payoffs from corporations with business before the government.…

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How Biden Might Recover

A press release that President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign issued last week offered a revealing window into his advisers’ thinking about how he might overcome widespread discontent with his performance to win a second term next year. While the release focused mostly on portraying former President Donald Trump as a threat to legal abortion, the most telling passage came when the Biden campaign urged the political press corps “to meet the moment and responsibly inform the electorate of what their lives might look like if the leading GOP candidate for…

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What a lapse in funding might look like in October of 2023

The crazy weather throughout the country seems to be reflected in Congress. On recess, when it returns it will have 12 working days to workout a regular federal budget for 2024. Ain’t gonna happen. Joining the Federal Drive with Tom Temin  to explore the possible consequences, the vice president for policy and programs at the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, John Hatton. Interview Transcript: Tom Temin And it looks more and more like, because of political developments in the short time period, there could be a lapse. But…

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Why Trump Might Just Roll to the Presidential Nomination

This should be a window of widening opportunity and optimism for the Republicans chasing Donald Trump, the commanding front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential race. Instead, this is a time of mounting uncertainty and unease. Rather than undermine Trump’s campaign, his indictment last week for mishandling classified documents has underscored how narrow a path is available for the candidates hoping to deny him the nomination. What should have been a moment of political danger for Trump instead has become another stage for him to demonstrate his dominance within the party.…

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More feds might soon be eligible for student-loan forgiveness

More federal employees could see their student loans forgiven under a newly introduced bill. The bipartisan legislation would reduce eligibility requirements for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF). Currently, borrowers must be employed in public service at the time of loan forgiveness. That means retired feds and those who have left public service, but who still made all the qualifying payments, are not currently eligible for the program. The PSLF Payment Completion Fairness Act would remove this requirement. The bill was introduced in both the House and Senate. (Public…

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Joe Biden Isn’t Popular. That Might Not Matter in 2024.

By almost any historic yardstick, President Joe Biden is beginning the reelection campaign he formally announced today in a vulnerable position. His job-approval rating has consistently come in at 45 percent or less; in several recent high-quality national polls, it has dipped closer to 40 percent. In surveys, three-fourths or more of Americans routinely express dissatisfaction with the economy. And a majority of adults have repeatedly said that they do not want him to seek a second term; that figure rose to 70 percent (including just more than half of…

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