Wake up with the Washington Examiner: Court conundrums, Biden’s blues, and NATO nuggets

Legal eagles

President Joe Biden and Democrats haven’t been the center of the legal universe in recent years. Most of the time spent in court, talking with lawyers, and fighting with judges has been part of former President Donald Trump’s portfolio.

The president isn’t at risk of having to show up in court if he winds up dropping out of the contest with Trump in November, but Republicans are laying the groundwork to make life more difficult for Democrats if they go through with their mini coup, Justice Reporter Ashley Oliver writes this morning.

“Changing the presidential ballot is feasible, but it could come with its share of headaches and complications depending on the state and when and how the change is made,” she writes.

“Battleground states are already sensitive to changes in election laws, which saw dramatic modifications across the country in 2020 in part because of COVID-19 policies. Some states have, since that time, made pivotal changes to their voting processes, while others have brought criminal charges against high-profile officials for alleged election interference.”

Democrats don’t necessarily have the power to change their nominee, even if they don’t actually have one yet. Biden is the presumptive power player after crushing also-rans Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) and author Marianne Williamson in Democratic primaries. And the president is confident he isn’t going anywhere, telling Morning Joe hosts on Monday that he is much more than the presumptive nominee — he has no plans of letting anyone stand in his way of reelection.

Democrats are on a path to nominating Biden on Aug. 7 in a virtual vote ahead of the DNC later in the month to ensure he can appear on ballots in Ohio.

But for the same reason Democrats are fiddling with their rules and timelines, regional and state rules that pose complications for national organizations, Republicans are keeping close tabs on their rivals to prevent electoral questions like they say in 2020.

“Our interest is not one of partisan or these politics games,” Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project Executive Director Mike Howell told Ashley. “Our interest is that the rules are followed, and we want to prevent another situation like 2020 where the rules were not followed.”

Should the political landscape quake and someone other than Biden wind up as the party’s nominee, the Oversight Project lawyers aren’t necessarily planning on parachuting into every state where there’s a need to alter ballots. However, Howell said they are on the lookout for any “improper substitution or withdrawal.”

Click here to read more about the legal effort to monitor Democrats’ biggest political headache in decades.

Supreme problems

Trump splitting his time between the campaign trail and courtrooms hasn’t been the electoral disaster for him some believed it might be. Indictments and criminal convictions only fueled the fire and reignited what was, at times, a sagging campaign.

Then, when the Supreme Court handed the former president the cudgel of immunity he could ask judges if he would be allowed to wield in his various cases, Trump looked ascendant. He was fighting back against a “weaponized” system that was prosecuting him. He stole the spotlight from Biden with his partial victory and subsequent wins in Florida, Georgia, and New York.

Although many of the charges against Trump were made based on actions he took before or after he was president — bringing into question how much protection he has as the Supreme Court only pointed to “absolute immunity” for “official” acts by the president — the historic ruling is having immediate implications up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

Supreme Court Reporter Kaelan Deese has a useful guide to what that decision has meant so far in each of Trump’s four criminal cases this morning.

“Trump was initially slated to be the first former president criminally sentenced this week, but the sentencing date was pushed back to Sept. 18 after the high court ruled on July 1 that former presidents, including Trump, have immunity for official acts they took in office, but not for unofficial or private acts,” Kaelan writes.

With a delay in Trump’s sentencing, the political world’s focus remains on Biden, who is struggling to unite his party around himself after a disastrous debate performance last month. For the most part, Trump has remained on the sidelines and out of the public eye. The strategy has worked as he racks up incremental victories and leaves the press to zero in on the vulnerabilities of his opponent.

Click here for the full rundown of what the Supreme Court ruling has meant so far.

Three’s the charm

Speaking of Biden’s weaknesses, the president managed to stem some of the bleeding on Monday following a week of whispers turning into shouts that he step aside in favor of a younger, more dynamic figure at the top of his party’s ticket.

But he’s not out of the wilderness yet, as Congressional Reporter Cami Mondeaux lays out this morning. Republicans aren’t content just to let Democrats wage an intraparty war. They want to make sure they are getting their shots in where they can.

“Republican lawmakers are going all in with their attacks against President Joe Biden, seizing on his vulnerabilities and hoping to weaken him further as a candidate as Democrats openly consider whether to replace him at the top of the ticket,” Cami writes.

“House Republicans are preparing to attack Biden from all sides over the coming weeks, hoping to deal some fatal blows as the president must first focus on convincing his own party he can remain their nominee. The efforts come as a growing number of Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to step aside, something the president has remained adamant he will not do.”

Some of the tactics getting deployed are replays of Democrats’ own. Others are golden oldies, flexing Congress’s oversight power to apply pressure to the president, forcing him to fight a multifront battle rather than focus solely on the enemies inside the gates.

Click here to read about the three main ways Republicans are poking the president this week.

NATO nuggets

All eyes are on Washington, D.C., this week as world leaders descend on the capital for the NATO summit, which marks the alliance’s 75th anniversary.

The European alliance has been a larger part of Biden’s presidency than any other U.S. leader for decades as the world has watched Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 escalate to the largest land war in Europe since World War II.

With that conflict as a backdrop, Defense Reporter Mike Brest writes, the affair this week is far from celebratory. Rather than toasting the alliance’s durability, leaders are going to be left tackling the thorny issues of defense spending, expansion, and the future of Ukraine.

Click here to go deeper into what NATO leaders are set to address this week.

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For your radar

Biden receives his daily brief — 10 a.m.

White House press briefing — 1 p.m.

Biden delivers remarks at NATO summit about alliance’s 75th anniversary — 5 p.m.

Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Las Vegas for a campaign event at 2:25 p.m. and then a moderated conversation at 3:35 p.m. before leaving for Dallas.

Trump will hold a rally in Doral, Florida, near Miami, and rumored vice presidential pick Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is set to speak — 7 p.m.