Wake up with the Washington Examiner: Politics as ‘normal,’ Cannon’s cut, and Biden rent-seeking – Washington Examiner

Max ThornberryJuly 16, 2024

The ⁢article discusses various political events, such as the Republican ‌National Convention and President Biden’s ‌proposed policy on rent increases. It mentions former President ⁣Trump’s appearance at the convention‌ and his‍ legal victories. There is also a focus on Biden’s housing ⁤affordability proposal and the potential⁣ impacts of such ‌policies. The article provides a detailed ⁢account of⁣ the ⁤current political landscape in the United States.

Washington Examiner

Wake up with the Washington Examiner: Politics as ‘normal,’ Cannon’s cut, and Biden rent-seeking

By Max Thornberry

July 16, 2024 8:25 am

Politics as normal?

A shooter coming within hundreds of feet of a former president flanked by some of the best security service in the world and shooting off a piece of his ear upended the 2024 presidential campaign over the weekend. The pall of political violence hovered over the first day of the Republican National Convention, but there was also a sense that things were beginning to fall back into place.

Former President Donald Trump made his first public appearance since the shooting on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, entering the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee to roaring approval. He named his highly anticipated running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), and used his Truth Social account to attack Democrats as well as praise Judge Aileen Cannon for handing him yet another legal win when she dismissed his classified documents case.

As National Political Correspondent Mabinty Quarshie points out for us from the ground in Wisconsin, “speaker after speaker championed the former president as they denigrated President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. But it was Trump entering the building that electrified the crowd Monday night.”

The event in Milwaukee is the first convention for Republicans since Trump took the reins of the party in 2016. Last time, in-person conventions, voting, and a bevy of other electoral events were put on pause due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With the world recovered from the worst effects of COVID-19, a sense of excitement among attendees took over on Monday.

“Jubilant Republicans gathered in Milwaukee excited to hear national and local GOP lawmakers speak before Trump appeared onstage,” Mabinty writes. “A festive air filled the Fiserv Forum with attendees dressed in Americana outfits or in head-to-toe Trump ornaments. As the convention continued Monday night, the crowd continued to chant, ‘Trump! Trump! Trump!’”

Click here to get caught up on everything that happened on Day 1 of the RNC. And take a look ahead for what to expect on Day 2 here.

Cannon cuts classified documents case

Without making light of Trump surviving an attempt on his life, the days following the nightmare scene for the former president have gone well. As noted, he was received warmly by his supporters in Milwaukee. He was renominated to be the party’s standard-bearer in November. And polls show he is on track to do precisely what he failed to do in 2020 despite his continued insistence that he trounced Biden in that election.

And on Monday, he picked up another legal victory when what might have been the most damning case against him was dismissed in Florida. The Supreme Court ruling that presidents have different levels of immunity for different actions they take while in office has been a boon for Trump. He successfully petitioned to have his sentencing in the New York hush money case delayed until September. And the ruling forced U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to revisit her entire case in Washington, D.C.

Cannon’s decision on Monday echoed Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion in the immunity case, which took direct aim at the appointments of special counsels.

Trump has railed against special counsel Jack Smith for months and argued he was not legally qualified to bring any kind of charges or conduct an investigation into him. And though Thomas didn’t have any support from his colleagues on the court, Cannon appears to think he is correct.

Supreme Court Reporter Kaelan Deese took a deep dive into what Monday’s decision will mean — not only for Trump but the knock-on effects for special counsels who investigated both Joe and Hunter Biden as well.

Cannon’s ruling isn’t final — Kaelan’s piece outlines more about that process — but we can tease out some of the implications this could have for the Biden family here:

“The decision by Cannon prompted questions about the future of past and current special prosecutors and the mechanisms by which they are appointed and funded in the United States. Legal experts say Cannon did not totally overturn the practice of appointing special counsels,” Kaelan writes.

“‘Even though she says it’s limited to this case, her ruling casts doubt upon the appointment of special counsels in other cases, most notably Hunter Biden,’” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said, referencing U.S. Attorney David Weiss’s position as special counsel to the Hunter Biden criminal investigation in Delaware.”

“Rahmani expressed the viewpoint that even the appointment of Weiss could be challenged by the first son, who was recently convicted of three felony counts for lying on a federal firearms form. However, there likely isn’t a one-to-one comparison between Smith and Weiss because of one key distinction: Congress’s role in appointments and appropriations.”

“Weiss was already the sitting Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney,” said James Burnham, president of Vallecito Capital and a former clerk to Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Click here to read more about how Trump’s classified documents saga will play out.

Rent-seeking

Amid all the politicking happening, Biden hasn’t abandoned using policy proposals to try to win over support before voting begins.

Homing in on one of the issues that voters consistently say worries them, Biden focused on a subject that is difficult to simplify or deliver a punchy proposal for, leaning in to addressing concerns about housing availability and affordability, Economic and Business Reporter Zachary Halaschak writes this morning.

“President Joe Biden is pushing for Congress to make it so corporate landlords have to cap rent increases on existing units at 5% or lose prized tax breaks,” Zachary writes.

“The push, which would almost certainly not happen given Republican control of the House, comes in a fierce election year in which housing affordability has rankled consumers. The policy would apply only to corporate landlords, those with over 50 units in their portfolios, and would cover more than 50 million units across the country, according to the White House.”

Biden is unveiling his plan at an event in Nevada later today. Nevada has been a standout in terms of concern about affordable housing, with skyrocketing housing costs and an influx of new residents fleeing California.

Capping rent increases isn’t a guarantee of success. As Zachary points out, “economists generally oppose controls on rent on the grounds that they discourage investment in maintenance and new construction.”

The plan is paired with an initiative for the government to assess plots of excess land that can be repurposed to boost the supply of new housing.

Click here to read more about Biden’s latest policy proposal.