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June 3, 2019

Morning Edition

Good Monday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today.

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• California was long an afterthought in presidential primaries, usually voting after the nomination had been locked up. But for the 2020 election, state officials have moved the date up by three months, cementing the state’s spot as a key early primary — and giving campaigns a massive, challenging and potentially lucrative new base to win over.

• The explosive growth of social media and the increasing diversity of the Democratic electorate have created more of a national primary than ever before. Candidates have already combined to visit more than 30 states and territories for public events, far more than in any past nominating contest.

• Over the years, Elaine Chao, the transportation secretary, has repeatedly used her connections and celebrity status in China to increase the profile of her family’s shipping company. But her first scheduled visit to China as a Trump cabinet member was canceled after an ethics question was raised to officials in the State and Transportation Departments.

• President Trump pushed ahead with plans to impose tariffs on Mexico over the objections of several top advisers, including his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, opting to side with hard-line officials who were advocating the move, according to multiple administration officials.

• The Trump administration has made eliminating federal regulations a priority, often targeting environmental rules it sees as burdensome to the fossil fuel industry and other big businesses. A New York Times analysis counts more than 80 environmental rules and regulations on the way out under Mr. Trump.

• A move by House Democratic leaders to thwart primary challenges to incumbents, even in safe Democratic districts, could have the unintended consequence of halting the party’s shift toward a more female and racially diverse caucus.

• House Democrats, returning from a weeklong recess, see an opening to focus public attention on presidential misconduct. But they are split over how to do that: Some think the key is securing Robert S. Mueller III’s public testimony, while others want to instigate a formal impeachment inquiry.

• In a bid to keep his grip on small donors, Senator Bernie Sanders held his first “grass-roots fund-raiser” — a private event at a San Francisco nightclub, with booze, a D.J., and tickets starting at $27.

• Before his planned visit to Britain on Monday, Mr. Trump is rattling an already precarious political situation there: He suggested that the next prime minister “walk away” from trying to reach a Brexit deal with the European Union.

• Senator Kirsten Gillibrand appeared on Fox News for a town hall on Sunday, fielding questions about abortion, Al Franken and more. She was the fourth Democrat to host such an event on Fox — another sign of the network’s ability to influence the Democratic primary, despite a ban by party leaders.

• The White House again played down its directive to hide a Navy warship named after Senator John McCain: This time, Mick Mulvaney, Mr. Trump’s acting chief of staff, called it “much ado about nothing.”

• Emmet T. Flood, the White House lawyer who oversaw the administration’s response to the special counsel investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, will step down from the job this month.

• When they leave for work, when they return at night, when Kim Kardashian West or Steven Mnuchin drops by, there always seem to be tabloid photographers outside the Washington home of Ivanka Trump and Mr. Kushner.

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