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Situational awareness – June 26, 2018

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Good Tuesday morning from Salt Lake City. It’s primary election day in Utah!

What to watch in today’s Utah primary elections. Utah Mormons approve of Trump’s job performance while disliking his personal behavior. Congress tries to find a fix to the humanitarian crisis on the US-Mexico border.

 

  TICK TOCK   

  • The 2018 Primary Election is today (6/26/2018)
  • 133 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
  • 216 days until the first day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (1/28/2019)
  • 861 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

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  HERE ARE THE STORIES WE’RE WATCHING TODAY  

It’s primary election day in Utah

Here’s what you should pay attention to as voters go to the polls to decide nominees in party primaries [Utah Policy].

Utah Mormons and Trump

When it comes to President Trump, our polling shows members of the LDS Church don’t like his personal behavior but do approve of his job performance [Utah Policy].

Wilson vying for the top spot in the House

Rep. Brad Wilson confirms that he’s going to run for Speaker of the Utah House in next year’s legislative session [Utah Policy].

Addressing the immigration problem

The Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce urges Congress to come up with a solution to the immigration crisis [Utah Policy].

  OTHER UTAH HEADLINES   

  • The Salt Lake City School District board wants a seat at the table on the new inland port governing body [Deseret News].
  • Utah officials are declaring Operation Rio Grande a success after nearly a year [Deseret News].
  • A judge has ordered Utah election officials and backers of the medical marijuana ballot initiative to appear in court next month for a hearing on whether the issue can be put on the ballot [Fox 13].
  • The U.S. House passes Rep. Rob Bishop’s bill to create the Golden Spike National Historic Park [Tribune].
  • The Utah Department of Public Safety announced a new database to combat gun violence [Standard-Examiner].
  • Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski wants the City Council to come up with more options for affordable housing [Fox 13].

  NATIONAL HEADLINES  

  • The House is preparing to vote Wednesday on a GOP immigration reform package. One provision would mandate verifying the employment eligibility for new workers while creating a new guest worker program [Politico].
  • Border security officials have temporarily stopped the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy [New York Times].
  • Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters is encouraging protesters to confront and harass members of the Trump administration over the “zero tolerance” policy that led to the separation of families at the border [CNN].
  • At a campaign rally, President Trump doubled down on his call to suspend due process for migrants who enter the country illegally [ABC News].
  • Special counsel Robert Mueller has reportedly obtained the phones and computer of Trump ally Erik Prince. Prince was allegedly involved in the establishment of a backchannel between the Trump administration and the Kremlin [ABC News].
  • Special counsel Robert Mueller is preparing to accelerate his investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign [Bloomberg].
  • President Trump’s approval rating dropped following a turbulent week in Washington, falling from the high-water mark of his presidency to the level he’s been at for most of the past two years [Washington Post].
  • President Trump plans to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in mid-July around the time when he visits the UK and attends a NATO summit [CNN].
  • The GOP tax law contains a nasty surprise for churches and other nonprofits, requiring those organizations to pay a 21-percent tax on some benefits they provide for employees [Politico].
  • The Supreme Court ruled in favor of disputed election maps in Texas and North Carolina [ABC News].
  • Harley Davidson announced they were moving some production overseas because of retaliatory tariffs imposed on the US in response to Trump’s trade war. President Trump says he was surprised by the decision [Washington Post].
  • Farmers in America are killing themselves in staggering numbers because of plummeting incomes [CBS News].
  • Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer is reportedly testing out a new talk show [New York Times].

  ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY   

  • 1917 – The first troops of the American Expeditionary Force reached France in World War I.
  • 1927 – The Cyclone roller coaster opens on Coney Island.
  • 1934 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Federal Credit Union Act.
  • 1945 – The United Nations Charter is signed by 50 Allied nations in San Francisco.
  • 1963 – President John F. Kennedy gave his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech in West Germany.
  • 1977 – Elvis Presley held his final concert in Indianapolis.
  • 1997 – The Supreme Court rules the Communications Decency Act violates the First Amendment.
  • 2003 – The Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that gender-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional.
  • 2008 – The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Constitution protects an individual’s right to carry a gun for private use, but said the ruling did nothing to alter the ban on gun ownership by felons or the mentally ill.
  • 2013 – The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and in violation of the Fifth Amendment.
  • 2015 – The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the 14th Amendment.