News Alert: Anonymous attack on Trump roils White House

View in your browser     Anonymous attack on Trump roils White House The White House was knocked on its heels for a second consecutive day on Wednesday after The New York Times published an op-ed from an anonymous senior administration official describing coordinated efforts among staff to push back against President Trump. In extraordinary language, the op-ed blasted the president’s “amorality” and portrayed the administration as being inhabited by aides who had banded together to “thwart” Trump’s worst instincts. It served as a double whammy of sorts for Trump coming a day after publication of excerpts from Bob Woodward’s forthcoming book that similarly cast aides as being in rebellion against the president. Read the full story here           Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for News Alerts     Forward News Alerts     You Might Like       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Overnight Energy: Dem AGs sue Trump over bird protections | Costs for ex-EPA chief’s Italian trip higher than reported | Endangered Species Act critic hired to senior post

View in your browser     BLUE STATES SUE EPA OVER BIRD PROTECTIONS: Eight Democratic state attorneys general sued the Trump administration Wednesday to try to overturn a policy that repealed certain protections for migratory birds. At issue is a December 2017 legal memo, in which Daniel Jorjani, the Interior Department's principal deputy solicitor, said that the agency would no longer punish people or companies for harming or killing birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in "incidental" ways. Jorjani's policy repealed a January 2017 memo by the Obama administration that said incidental harms would be prosecuted. It was opposed by numerous industries, including oil refineries and wind energy companies. The attorneys general, led by New York, say the Trump policy also overturned years of precedent on enforcing the law, as well as the plain meaning of the law. "In yet another giveaway to special interests at the expense of our states, the Trump administration has gutted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act -- eliminating longstanding prohibitions on injuring or killing over 300 species of migratory birds that provide critical ecological, scientific, and economic value to New York," New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood (D) said in a statement. Read more here.   In other environmental news from New York... New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced Wednesday that the state will be putting some of the funds it won through its 2016 Volkswagen emissions settlement towards clean vehicles. The state will invest more than $127 million in expanding electric and clean government vehicles, including buses, trucks, ferries, tug boats, locomotives and cargo handling equipment. Additionally the city plans to invest in more electric vehicle charging stations. The plan builds on Cuomo's climate initiative to advance New York as a national leader on clean energy. "Combating climate change and air pollution and protecting our environment is critical to the very future of this great state," Cuomo said in a statement. "As Washington continues to roll back protections, New York is more committed than ever to supporting cleaner, greener transportation technologies. By strategically investing these settlement funds, we can take real action to improve community health and sustainability, while providing incentives to address one of the largest causes of harmful pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.   Happy Wednesday! Welcome to Overnight Energy, The Hill's roundup of the latest energy and environment news. Please send tips and comments to Timothy Cama, tcama@thehill.com, and Miranda Green, mgreen@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @Timothy_Cama, @mirandacgreen, @thehill. And CLICK HERE to subscribe to our newsletter.   PRUITT'S ITALY TRIP COST THOUSANDS MORE THAN REPORTED: Former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt's lavish 2017 taxpayer-funded trip to Italy cost thousands of dollars more than previously reported, internal agency documents show. The trip to Rome and the Vatican -- which included first-class travel for Pruitt and his close aides, around-the-clock security and stays at a five-star hotel for all attending staff -- ended up costing taxpayers $164,200, roughly 37 percent more than previously reported. The agency released the figure, which included $10,067 for a motorcade and $5,841 in hotel rooms for the drivers at the five-star Baglioni Hotel Regina in Rome, as part of a Freedom of Information Act request to the Environmental Integrity Project, an environmental watchdog group. Previous reports estimated Pruitt's travel costs for the trip to be at least $120,000, which included the administrator's $7,003 round-trip flight. That price tag didn't include the $36,068 military flight he took from Washington to New York City before getting on a commercial airline. Eric Schaeffer, the executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project, compared the costs to the number of regulatory cuts undertaken by the EPA under the Trump administration. "These new details about Scott Pruitt's mismanagement and runaway spending show that he was abusing taxpayers even as he damaged their health by rolling back environmental regulations," Schaeffer argued. Read more here.   ZINKE HIRES ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT CRITIC FOR SENIOR JOB: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has hired an outspoken critic of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for a senior position as the Trump administration undertakes a historic effort to ease industry compliance with the law. Robert Gordon -- who recently penned a report alleging that the ESA has cost the country hundreds of billions of dollars -- recently started work at the Interior Department as deputy assistant secretary for policy, management and budget, said Interior spokeswoman Faith Vander Voort. He works under Susan Combs, who is the acting assistant secretary for policy, management and budget, a position akin to a chief financial officer for the 70,000-person agency. "He has extensive experience working on natural resource issues in Congress and at national think tanks," Vander Voort said in a statement. "Interior is proud to welcome top-tier talent. Rob Gordon brings impressive and diverse experience to the department, and we are excited to have him on our team." Gordon has fought for decades while in positions both in an out of government to change the ESA. He most recently worked as an adjunct fellow at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute. Days before leaving for the government, he published a major report arguing that official estimates have dramatically underestimated the cost to industry and states for complying with the ESA, and that some single species can cost billions of dollars to protect. "Clearly, the bureaucratic paperwork, annual agency expenditures, and anticipated costs for recovery, while often poorly estimated and tracked, amount to tens of billions of dollars alone. Economic impacts are clearly far larger," Gordon wrote. Read more here.   ON TAP THURSDAY: An environment subcommittee of the House's Committee on Energy and Commerce will discuss the health risk of perfluorinated chemicals, also known as PFAS. The effects of the cancer-linked chemical, sometimes found in drinking water, are at the heart of an Environmental Protection Agency regulatory debate. While the agency has vowed to issue guidance on the chemical's effects, critics say the agency is slow rolling its finding. The agency has been holding a number of community engagement events across the country to listen to concerns over the chemical--which is found in fire retardants. Also Thursday, the House Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on a number of federal lands bills. They include a measure to improve state and local government partnerships over national battlefield management and a bill to order the Interior Secretary to annually designate a city as the "American World War II Heritage City"   THE HILL EVENT: Join us Thursday, Sept. 6, for "Partnerships & Progress: Driving Climate Solutions," featuring Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). Editor in Chief Bob Cusack will sit down with the headliners to discuss how the public and private sectors can balance environmental progress with healthy economic growth. RSVP Here.   OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY: Lawsuit filed against Wisconsin based Husky Energy over explosion French President Macron names new environment minister Price of oil falls as threat of gulf storm weakens.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out Wednesday's stories... -Dem state attorneys general sue Trump for repealing bird protection policy -Poll: Death estimates tied to Trump coal rule make it less popular -Former EPA chief's Italy trip cost thousands more than previously reported -Zinke hires Endangered Species Act critic for senior post -ACLU: Government plotted to surveil, disrupt Keystone XL protesters         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Energy Newsletters     Forward Energy Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2018 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Election Countdown: Fallout from Massachusetts stunner | In Delaware, Carper looks to avoid next progressive upset | Dem 2020 primary already in full swing | How a Dem ex-governor hopes to take red-state Tennessee | GOP challengers hit Dems over tax votes

View in your browser     This is Election Countdown, The Hill's weekly newsletter from Lisa Hagen (@LA_Hagen) and Max Greenwood (@KMaxGreenwood) that brings you the biggest stories on the campaign trail. We'd love to hear from you, so feel free to reach out to Lisa at LHagen@thehill.com and Max at MGreenwood@thehill.com with any questions, comments, criticisms or food recommendations (mostly the latter, please). Click here to sign up.   We're 62 days until the 2018 midterm elections and 790 days until the 2020 elections.   Voters are hungry for change--and they made that clear in the latest Tuesday Democratic primary that saw a longtime incumbent knocked off. Democrat Ayanna Pressley unseated longtime Rep. Mike Capuano (D-Mass.) in his diverse Boston-area district. Capuano conceded the primary long before the AP called it, saying that "clearly the district wanted a lot of change." Pressley's victory is the latest in a series of wins by female and minority candidates looking to change the makeup of the Democratic caucus in Congress. Pressley, who was the first woman of color elected to Boston City Council, is poised to make history again in November as the first black woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts. During her victory speech Tuesday night, Pressley declared that "change can't wait." There's an anti-establishment fervor sweeping the political world this cycle. Incumbents are rarely unseated in Massachusetts and Boston politics because of an unspoken wait-your-turn mentality. Capuano, who's served in Congress for nearly two decades, is the fourth House incumbent to lose in a primary this year.   Looking ahead to a primary on Thursday night, progressives are hoping that same energy hits Delaware, where they are hoping to take out the first Senate incumbent of the cycle. Kerri Evelyn Harris, an openly gay and black Air Force veteran and community activist, is angling to unseat Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) in the Democratic primary. Carper is a moderate lawmaker, who's an entrenched incumbent and longtime politician. He's been in the Senate since 2001 and is a former governor and House member. Harris and progressives are pushing him on what they say is a too friendly embrace of corportions, including pharmaceutical companies. But Carper's campaign has sought to show his support for more progressive ideals including by backing a $15 minimum wage. There's been no public polling and Carper has a significant fundraising advantage, but progressives are hoping to yet again overcome the odds like they did in Boston and in New York City with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's primary victory over longtime Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley (D).   Race for the White House Democrats eyeing a 2020 White House bid against President Trump are wading into the primaries early, The Hill's Amie Parnes reports. Former Vice President Joe Biden marched in a Labor Day Parade in Pittsburgh; Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) headlined an AFL-CIO breakfast in New Hampshire; and Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) jockeyed for air time during a turbulent confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. It's unusual for potential candidates to so aggressively position themselves for a presidential run ahead of the midterm elections. But it's a strategy that some consultants say could pay off.   Don't expect former Secretary of State John Kerry to mount a challenge to Trump in 2020. "I doubt very much I'll be running for office again," the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee told "CBS This Morning" in an interview, which came after he previously declined to rule out a potential White House run.   Senate showdown Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) was sworn into the Senate on Wednesday to succeed the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Kyl, a former senator, was appointed by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) on Tuesday. Kyl said he'll serve at least through January, but hasn't committed to serving in 2019 or 2020--when McCain's seat will be up. Kyl said he isn't interested in running in 2020.   The Hill's Lisa Hagen traveled to Tennessee last week to cover the state's high-profile Senate race between Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and former Gov. Phil Bredesen (D). Republicans have an edge in a state that Trump won by 26 points, but Tennessee Republicans told The Hill that they've seen internal numbers with both candidates ahead. Blackburn is casting herself as a close ally of the president and also leaning heavily on her fight in the state legislature to prevent a state income tax. The conservative congresswoman would be the first woman elected to the Senate--or any statewide office--in Tennessee. Meanwhile, Bredesen is running to the center on a bipartisan message--a move to assure Republicans they can vote for a Democrat. While he wouldn't say if he'd support Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for leader, Bredesen called the national Democratic Party brand "terrible" as it moves more to the left. Read more here about where Bredesen needs to win to pull off an upset in Tennessee.   Meanwhile, Republican Senate candidates are using the 2017 tax law as a cudgel against vulnerable Senate Democrats who didn't support the GOP plan. That includes GOP candidates hitting Democratic incumbents in states like North Dakota, West Virginia and Indiana--all Senate races where Trump overwhelmingly won in 2016.   Survey says… The latest generic ballot polls paint a promising picture for Democrats in the battle for the House. A Washington Post/ABC News poll released Tuesday finds Democrats retaking a wide, 14-point lead over Republicans, 52 to 38 percent. Another Tuesday poll from USA Today/Suffolk University poll also finds Democrats holding a double-digit lead, 50 to 39 percent.   Meanwhile, in one of the hottest Senate races this year, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (R) are tied in the battle for the Missouri Senate seat. McCaskill is one of five Senate Democrats defending a seat in a state that Trump won by double-digits in 2016.   And in Florida's high-profile governor's race, a new Quinnipiac University poll finds Democrat Andrew Gillum leading Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) by 3 points.   What we're watching for Thursday is Delaware's primary where Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) is looking to fend off his first serious primary challenge since he took office in 2001.   Here's the primary calendar for the rest of September: New Hampshire on Sept. 11, Rhode Island on Sept. 12 and New York's local and statewide elections on Sept. 13.   Coming to a TV near you Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), widely considered one of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans up for reelection, is striking back after his Democratic challenger, Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), launched an ad last month hitting him on his health-care record. "Jacky Rosen's idea of fixing health care? A campaign commercial," Heller says in an ad spot out Tuesday. "The truth is, in her two years in Congress, Jacky Rosen has done nothing to fix health care. Nothing. Zero."   The National Republican Senatorial Committee is out with a new ad attacking Democratic Senate hopeful Kyrsten Sinema as "too extreme" for Arizona. The spot goes after Sinema for "defending murderers" as a lawyer, as well as for being a "left-wing fringe protester."   West Virginia Attorney General and Senate hopeful Patrick Morrissey is launching the first ad of his general election campaign. The 30-second spot touts the GOP contender as a fighter, who "beat Obama at the Supreme Court" in a case that sought to block new rules on carbon emissions. The ad also channels Trump--a heavyweight move in the deep-red state. "He's going to fight for you like nobody's ever fought for the people of West Virginia," Trumps says in the clip.   In Florida, Democrat Andrew Gillum is out with his first TV ad since his remarkable upset win in the Democratic gubernatorial primary last month. The spot highlights the longshot nature of Gillum's campaign against a field of wealthy opponents. "The American way still lives and if the state of Florida has to show the rest of the world, then let it begin right here," Gillum says in the ad.   Wave watch Democrats appear increasingly poised for a wave election in November. The Hill's Reid Wilson reports that Democrats have led Republicans by at least 11 points on five of the six most recent generic ballot polls, and many of the party's candidates have a fundraising advantage over their GOP opponents. But Republicans aren't giving up hope yet. Matt Gorman, a National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman, said that the committee was ready to "run every day as if we're down 10 points."   While the Democrats appear poised for a so-called "blue wave" in the House, control of the Senate remains a more elusive target for the party. Democrats are defending more than two-dozen seats this year, and Republicans are bullish about their chances of increasing their majority in the chamber.   Meanwhile, the NRCC says Republicans are "well-positioned" to keep control of the House in November. "In spite of history and conventional wisdom inside the Beltway, as it stands today, Republicans are well-positioned to maintain control of the House," the memo reads. The committee cites fundraising and advertising as reasons why the NRCC will defy history. The party in the White House typically loses seat in the president's first midterm election.   NRCC Chairman Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) said the committee will continue to support embattled Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), despite his recent indictment that he allegedly misused campaign funds. Hunter, who has pleaded not guilty, faces a tough reelection race against Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar even though his San Diego-area district is deep red.   In Democratic efforts to take back the House, former President Barack Obama will make his first foray on the campaign trail this year to stump for Democratic candidates in Ohio and California. Obama will campaign alongside Richard Cordray in Ohio's governor's race in addition to the Democrats running in the seven GOP-held California seats where Trump lost.           Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Campaign Newsletter     Forward Campaign Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2018 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.