Good Tuesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 157th day of the year. There are 208 days remaining in 2017. Today is the 138th day of Donald Trump’s presidency.
New Utah GOP Chair Rob Anderson says the party may end their fight against SB54 in the fall. Rep. Jason Chaffetz says government leakers should be in jail. Senate Republicans hope to vote on the Obamacare repeal before July.
The clock:
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11 days until the Utah Republican 3rd District nominating convention at Timpview High School (6/17/2017).
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11 days until the Utah Democratic State Convention at Weber State University (6/17/2017)
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70 days until the 2017 Utah primary election (8/15/2017)
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154 days until the 2017 election (11/7/2017)
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230 days until the opening day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (1/22/2018)
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275 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)
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518 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
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1,246 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)
Today’s political TL; DR –
- SCOOP #1: New Utah GOP Chair Rob Anderson says turnover on the State Central Committee could lead to Republicans dropping their lawsuit against SB54, which has nearly bankrupted the party [Utah Policy].
- SCOOP #2: Some Republican heavy-hitters, including Gov. Gary Herbert, are ready to start fundraising to help dig the Utah GOP out of their financial hole [Utah Policy].
- Sens. Deidre Henderson and Margaret Dayton, who are two of the frontrunners in the race to win the delegate nomination in Utah’s 3rd Congressional District, say they would strive to be independent of President Donald Trump if they win a seat in Congress. However, both women struggled to name specific Trump policy proposals with which they disagreed [Utah Policy].
- Rep. Jason Chaffetz once again says individuals who leak sensitive information to the press should be put “behind bars” [Utah Policy].
- Sen. Mike Lee says President Donald Trump put “people first” when he withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement [Utah Policy].
- 3rd District Republican candidate Tanner Ainge submits signatures to secure a place on the August primary ballot in the race to replace Rep. Jason Chaffetz [Utah Policy].
- Greg Sheehan, Wildlife Director for the Utah Department of Natural Resources, has been tapped by the Trump administration to serve as Deputy Director of Fish and Wildlife Resources [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
- Salt Lake County Recorder Gary Ott, who is rumored to be suffering from diminished capacity, gives a bizarre interview while standing on the side of a road in Ogden [Tribune].
- Rep. Jason Chaffetz appears on the “Fox and Friends” TV show in what could be an audition for a rumored new gig with the network [Deseret News].
- Republican Chia-Chi Teng drops his lawsuit against the state because he was prevented from filing to run in Utah’s 3rd District remotely [Deseret News, Tribune].
- House Speaker Greg Hughes did not fully disclose all of his business holdings in his financial disclosure form [Tribune].
- Rob Miller, whose candidacy for Utah Democratic Party Chair has been rocked by allegations of sexual misconduct, says he would have a difficult time leading the party now. However, he’s not yet ready to drop his leadership bid [Tribune].
- The Utah Transit Authority says they don’t have enough money to relocate the TRAX station at the Salt Lake City International Airport [Tribune].
National headlines:
- Former Vice President Joe Biden will get a headlining spot at Mitt Romney‘s annual political summit in Park City this summer [Associated Press].
- The Senate GOP is pushing to vote on their version of the Obamacare repeal bill before the July 4 recess [Politico].
- A Russian cyber attack on U.S. voting software suppliers may have penetrated further into U.S. voting systems than previously thought [The Intercept]. A contractor for the NSA who allegedly provided the document to the website was arrested over the weekend [Washington Post].
- Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he has been told by President Donald Trump to make rebuilding ties with Russia a top priority [Reuters].
- The White House says they will not move to block former FBI Director James Comey‘s testimony in front of Congress later this week [Wall Street Journal].
- London Mayor Sadiq Khan says the British government should cancel President Donald Trump‘s state visit following his response to the London Bridge terrorist attack [The Guardian].
- President Donald Trump is reportedly souring on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, blaming him for all manner of scandals that have damaged his agenda [New York Times].
- The top U.S. diplomat in China has resigned his post in protest of President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement [Bloomberg].
On this day in history:
- 1934 – The Securities and Exchange Commission was established.
- 1944 – Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, in the D-Day invasion of Europe during World War II.
- 1966 – Black activist James Meredith was shot and wounded as he walked along a Mississippi highway to encourage black voter registration.
- 1985 – Authorities in Brazil exhumed a body later identified as that of Dr. Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor who conducted medical experiments on inmates at Auschwitz during World War II.
- 2011 – After days of denials, Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., confessed that he had tweeted a lewd photo of himself to a woman and admitted to “inappropriate” exchanges with six women.