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Situational awareness – July 9, 2018

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Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City. President Trump announces his next Supreme Court nominee tonight during prime time.

Utahns haven’t seen much benefit from the Trump tax cuts. Did Hatch drop a clue about Trump’s SCOTUS pick? The Trump administration will likely miss a deadline for reuniting children separated from their families at the border. 

  TICK TOCK   

  • 120 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
  • 203 days until the first day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (1/28/2019)
  • 848 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

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  HERE ARE THE STORIES YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO TODAY  

Utahns aren’t seeing much benefit from the Trump tax cuts

Our latest UtahPolicy.com survey finds that 51% of Utahns support the tax cuts passed by Republicans in Congress last year, but only 1/4 say they have noticed an increase in their paycheck because of the changes – http://bit.ly/2MYc8P6

Does Orrin Hatch know something?

Sen. Orrin Hatch may have dropped a huge clue about who President Trump is about to select for the Supreme Court – http://bit.ly/2zs2h1M

Lee to SCOTUS? Probably not…

Our “Political Insiders” say they don’t think Sen. Mike Lee or his brother Thomas will be President Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court – http://bit.ly/2uhgIjo

Utah oil drillers got a big boost from Pruitt

Former EPA head Scott Pruitt helped push through changes that exempted Utah oil and gas producers from EPA smog regulations – https://politi.co/2MZsUwZ

Big money offer for Romney

Comedian Bill Maher says he would put up $1 million if Mitt Romney were to wrest control of the country from Donald Trump – http://bit.ly/2m605U9

  OTHER UTAH HEADLINES   

  • Mitt Romney expressed concern about the trade war that has erupted between the U.S. and China after President Trump’s tariffs went into effect last week [Fox 13].
  • Jennifer Dailey-Provost appears to have won the four-way Democratic primary to replace Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck [KSL].
  • Salt Lake City councilman Derek Kitchen is the apparent victor in the Democratic primary for the seat held by Sen. Jim Dabakis, who is retiring from the legislature at the end of the year [Tribune].
  • A political action committee is already raising money to push Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox to run for governor in 2020 [Fox 13].
  • The windfall Utah expects to get from the Supreme Court decision allowing states to collect sales taxes from online transactions has already been spent [Tribune].
  • Sen. Orrin Hatch met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week in Berlin [Deseret News].
  • Families of Utahns who died from exposure to radiation because of nuclear testing could receive payments from the federal government of up to $150,000 under a proposed bill in Congress [Tribune].

  NATIONAL HEADLINES  

  • President Trump is set to announce his Supreme Court pick Monday night during primetime. Trump has reportedly narrowed his list to four possible choices – https://nyti.ms/2N1cB2P

  • President Trump’s team is preparing for a pitched battle over his Supreme Court nominee. The White House is preparing to hit the ground running after Trump announces his nominee – https://politi.co/2N04Hqn

  • Within seconds after Trump announces his pick, the conservative Judicial Crisis Network group will launch an ad campaign to pressure Republicans and Democrats in key states to support the nominee – http://bit.ly/2J8wTVN

  • Children as young as one are appearing in immigration court hearings by themselves after being separated from their families as part of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy at the US-Mexico border – http://bit.ly/2N1yNK

  • The ACLU says the Trump administration will be able to reunite less than half of the children separated from their parents by a court-mandated deadline – http://bit.ly/2MWOkuT

  • NATO leaders are worried President Trump will make key concessions to Russia when he meets with Vladimir Putin next week – https://wapo.st/2N0dJ6U

  • President Trump will almost entirely avoid London during his visit to the UK this week because of expected massive protests against him – http://bit.ly/2N1zenI

  • President Trump’s legal team in the Russia investigation is “close to determining” that Trump will not sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller – https://abcn.ws/2N0gSDz

  • The White House refused a request from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team to interview chief of staff John Kelly – https://cnn.it/2N2fMYj

  • The Trump administration’s new rules for federal agencies on dealing with employee unions go into effect on Monday – https://wapo.st/2MYQqdC

  • The Trump White House has broken records for staff turnover during a presidency in just a year and a half – http://bit.ly/2N2fDEf

  ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY   

  • 1776 – Geoge Washington orders the Declaration of Independence to be read out to members of the Continental Army in Manhattan.
  • 1850 – President Zachary Taylor dies from cholera after eating raw fruit and iced milk; he is succeeded in office by Vice President Millard Fillmore.
  • 1868 – The 14th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law.
  • 1893 – Daniel Hale Williams performs the first successful open-heart surgery in the United States without anesthesia.
  • 1896 – William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
  • 1943 – Florence Blanchfield is appointed lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, becoming the first woman to hold permanent military rank.