Weekly News Roundup - 4/12/24
Interest rate cuts slip further away again; the GOP is riven over abortion, Ukraine, and FISA; Biden takes on China
Welcome to the 14th weekly news roundup of 2024. The archive for all weekly news roundups is here. If you notice stories or issues you’d like to see mentioned in these roundups, let me know. In 2024, the Border Stalkers Substack is featuring one news update a week, and one book a month, with weekly posts on each book. The book of the month schedule is here.
Big Stories This Week
Hopes for interest rate cuts were dealt a blow this week as inflation numbers ticked up. Wednesday's Consumer Price Index report showed prices going up for the third month in a row. "The sound you heard there was the door slamming on a June rate cut,” David Kelly, JPMorgan Asset Management’s chief global strategist, told Bloomberg. It's a setback for U.S. consumers, and possibly also for President Biden's reelection hopes, which rest to some degree on positive economic news.
Tensions within the Republican party built to a new level, as House Speaker Mike Johnson and Donald Trump tried to maintain stability heading into the summer and fall election season. Trump wants Johnson to bend to his will, but his instruments for making this happen are the hardline House Republicans whose threats to oust Johnson from the speakership risk throwing the party into such chaos that it hurts Trump's prospects in the fall election. Johnson is facing a revolt from these hardliners, and needs Trump to tamp it down. But he is also trying to find a way to move aid to Ukraine and is seeking to renew the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in the face of opposition from Trump and the House Freedom Caucus. (The Dispatch explained Thursday that Trump's opposition to FISA renewal is based in a misunderstanding of -- and misinformation about -- what's in the bill and that his opposition is actually undermining the reforms Republicans want to accomplish. Punchbowl also wrote Wednesday that Johnson's choice may be to "pass a Ukraine aid bill or remain speaker.") In the midst of all this, Johnson was scheduled to appear at Mar-a-Lago with Trump Friday night, where both men were expected to talk about a popular topic on the right that has no evidence to support it: the false claim that non-citizens are voting in large numbers. As Johnson met with Trump, Trump aides this week told Politico that threats to oust Johnson from Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene are an "unwanted" and "stupid" "distraction." But Greene's ever present threat to Johnson gives Trump leverage over him, so they probably don't want it to go away entirely. A New York Times article Wednesday notes that "as Speaker, Johnson Advances What He Once Opposed, Enraging the Right," and adds that Johnson is "bowing to governing realities that are now his problem." It calls to mind the line from George Washington to Alexander Hamilton in Lin Manuel-Miranda's musical: "Winning was easy, young man. Governing’s harder."
The U.S. military told Congress that time has run out for Ukraine, and that if Speaker Johnson does not allow a vote in the House now to approve aid for Ukraine (on a bill that everyone has known for months would pass if he allowed a vote), Ukraine will be at the mercy of Russia's invading force. “The side that can’t shoot back, loses, and at this point Ukraine is really starting to be pressed to be able to shoot back. So I am very concerned,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said. “We saw Ukraine lose some territory a couple of months ago. And I think there is a real danger ...that the Russians could have a breakthrough somewhere in the line.” Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat and a former CIA and DOD official, said that Johnson “has a choice to make. I accept that it’s a complicated choice. I accept that he’s at risk of losing his job over that choice."
A British physician released a nearly 400-page report — commissioned by Britain's government — to recommend a way forward for the National Health Service on how to treat children who are questioning their gender, or experiencing "gender dysphoria." "For the majority of young people, a medical pathway may not be the best way," said the report from Dr. Hillary Cass. "Ideology on all sides" has taken precedence over the welfare of children experiencing gender dysphoria, the report said. The report builds on recommendations from Cass last summer which led Britain's National Health Service to stop prescribing puberty-blocking drugs to minors, saying more study of the effects and long-term outcomes is needed. Britain's approach has been closely watched around the world by other countries looking for guidance on how to navigate this complicated topic.
Abortion was again in the news, as Arizona became the 15th state to ban nearly all abortions except if the life of the mother is at stake, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The ruling by Arizona's state Supreme Court was blasted by Republican politicians, who are alarmed at the potential backlash that such rulings could provoke against them in the fall elections. One Republican member of Congress from Arizona called the ruling a "disaster." The Arizona ruling came one day after Donald Trump said in prepared remarks that abortion laws should be left up to the states. Trump's statement was intended to avoid an endorsement of a national abortion ban or partial ban, but Arizona's decision highlighted how Trump's stance would lead to total bans in some states (while other states expand access). Anti-abortion groups and some Republican lawmakers criticized Trump for backing away from a national law. Trump criticized "hardliner" anti-abortion advocates, including SBA President Marjorie Dannenfelser by name, for "making it impossible" for Republicans to win tough elections.
President Biden was active in shoring up a coalition of Asian countries to bolster coordination stemming China's influence. He hosted a state dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday, and on Thursday he met with Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, where he vowed that the U.S. commitment to defense treaties with its two allies is "ironclad." "Any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defense treaty," Biden said. A few days earlier, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had concluded a five-day trip to China, where she put on a charm offensive but also pressed Beijing against dumping clean energy goods into the U.S. market. On Friday the New York Times wrote that "the world has entered a new period of great power politics" with "the United States, Japan, South Korea and Western Europe" facing off with "China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as well as Iran-backed groups like the Houthis." "These authoritarian powers 'are more and more aligned,' Jens Stoltenberg, the head of NATO, the Western alliance, told the BBC this week. 'They support each other more and more, in very practical ways.'" The Times went deep on this dynamic in Friday's "The Morning" newsletter.
Week in Review
Friday, April 5
Lawmakers unveil a data privacy bill that they hope to pass that would place limits on how much information companies can gather about individuals online. The bill's future is uncertain.
Saturday, April 6
Thousands of Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding he make a deal to release hostages kept in custody Hamas.
Donald Trump attends a fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida in which his campaign says it raises $50 million in one evening.
Sunday, April 7
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen caps off a successful multi-day trip to China by meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, the second-ranking government official. “While we have more to do, I believe that, over the past year, we have put our bilateral relationship on more stable footing,” Yellen says.
The South Carolina women's basketball team defeats Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the NCAA national championship, 87-75, to complete an undefeated season of 38 wins and zero losses.
Monday, April 8
A total solar eclipse passes over large swaths of the U.S., capturing the imagination of many and providing a moment of connection and transcendence during a time too often beset by division, confusion and dread.
President Biden unveils his latest attempt to cancel some student debt for more than 30 million Americans, after the Supreme Court rejected his administration's first attempt.
The Connecticut men's basketball team wins its second national title in a row, defeating Purdue 75-60.
Tuesday, April 9
The Arizona Supreme Court rules that an 1864 law criminalizing abortion may be enforced, causing a host of Republicans to distance themselves from the decision.
The Republican-led House delays sending articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate, when it is clear there is not enough support in the upper chamber among Republicans.
Wednesday, April 10
A "hot" inflation report disappoints the many who hoped to see multiple interest rate cuts this year, dampening expectations for the Federal Reserve Bank to take action any time soon. The stock market tumbles in reaction.
President Biden hosts Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House for a state dinner, the first this year for the president.
Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, head of U.S. European Command, and Army Secretary Christine Wormuth sound dire warnings in congressional testimony that Ukraine is running dangerously low on artillery shells, and will be outgunned 10-to-1 within a matter of weeks, if the Congress does not approve an aid package.
President Biden airs some of his most pointed criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to date for the way he has prosecuted the war in Gaza. "I don’t agree with his approach," Biden says. More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of 250 hostages, some of whom are still in captivity. Israel claims they have killed around 12,000 militants.
House Republicans vote down an attempt by Speaker Johnson to move renewal of the FISA act forward past a procedural vote.
Trump says Arizona's abortion ban went too far and will be "straightened out," and maintains that he would not sign a nationwide ban if he were president.
Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the end of the month-long Ramadan observance, which commemorates the prophet Muhammad's first revelation.
Thursday, April 11
O.J. Simpson, the former football star and actor whose murder trial in 1995 transfixed the nation, dies at 76 years old of prostate cancer.
Friday, April 12
The FISA renewal bill clears the vote hurdle it failed to get over earlier in the week after it is reduced from a 5-year renewal to 2 years.
Interesting Reads
The Right’s Bogus Claims about Noncitizen Voting Fraud, by Walter Olson for @theunpopulist
How Tech Giants Cut Corners to Harvest Data for A.I. by By Cade Metz, Cecilia Kang, Sheera Frenkel, Stuart A. Thompson and Nico Grant for The New York Times
A Drone Strike in Odesa Shatters a Family’s Life, by Constant Méheut for The New York Times
Francis Collins: Why I’m going public with my prostate cancer diagnosis, The Washington Post
US-China competition to field military drone swarms could fuel global arms race by Frank Bajak for The Associated Press
No Labels Should Pick a Team, Biden or Trump, by Mitt Romney for The Wall Street Journal
Jamie Dimon Warns U.S. Might Face Interest-Rate Spike, by Alexander Saeedy for The Wall Street Journal
Doubts Creep In About a Fed Rate Cut This Year: Traders started the year predicting up to seven rate cuts. Now, many are betting on one or two—or none, by Eric Wallerstein for The Wall Street Journal
Bill Murray’s Son Designed UConn’s Offense. It’s No Joke, by Robert O'Connell and Laine Higgins for The Wall Street Journal (gift link)
There Is a Way Out of MAGA Domination, by Peter Wehner and Jonathan Rauch for The New York Times (gift link)
Jonathan Haidt responds to Candace Odgers' critical review of his book The Anxious Generation