If it’s FRIDAY … Jobs up 236,000 in March, unemployment at 3.5%…. Israel launches rare air strikes in Lebanon after rocket barrage hits the north … Bragg blasts House GOP’s ‘unprecedented campaign of harassment‘ … Biden calls Tennessee expulsion ‘undemocratic’ … Ed Dept. puts out new rule proposal on trans-student athletes … Biden vetoes resolution on overturning water regulations … White House blames Trump for Afghanistan withdrawal trouble … and judge in Trump case appears to have donated $15 to Biden.
But FIRST … On Thursday night, Republican lawmakers in Tennessee did something unprecedented. They expelled two Democratic legislators for protesting on the House floor.
The party-line votes to expel Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, both Black men, passed. But the vote to remove Rep. Gloria Johnson, a white woman, failed.
In some ways, this felt inevitable.
Just think about the current state of political warfare — when parties more often choose to be pugilistic, and don’t know when to back down. And when politicians are rewarded for showmanship, rather than serious debate and compromise.
And just look at the bubble-wrapped political environment that Republicans created for themselves leading up to this moment in Tennessee. Half of Republicans in the state House did not even face an opponent on the ballot in 2022. And of those who did face an opponent, all but four won at least 60% or more of the vote.
There’s no question that Tennessee is a red state. But it’s a state where Republicans make up about three-quarters of the state House, but have recently won with significantly smaller shares of the statewide vote.
Put plainly: For most Tennessee Republicans, the only political pressure they need to worry about is from their base. That’s a common dynamic in legislatures across the country — especially in some southern states like Tennessee, where districts are also racially polarized — raising the question about whether this kind of politicking could become the new normal elsewhere too.
Especially as the price for crossing party lines, particularly on charged issues like guns, remains so steep.
Remember former New York GOP Rep. Chris Jacobs, who realized that he had no electoral future after he backed new gun laws in the wake of an attack on his community and decided not to run again?
It’s possible the ousted Democratic lawmakers in Tennessee could soon return to the chamber by appointment and by winning special elections.
But even if they do return, who’s to say this won’t happen again? The dynamics that led to this moment in politics are still there — and they’ll continue to fester.
Headline of the day
Data Download: The number of the day is … $15
That’s how much money Judge Juan Merchan, the judge who presided over the recent Trump Organization case as well as former President Donald Trump’s arraignment this week, appears to have donated to Biden’s presidential campaign in 2020.
That’s according to federal campaign finance data, which shows someone named Juan Merchan of New York, who lists his occupation as a New York state judge, making three small donations in the summer of 2020 — one to Biden, and two others to “Stop Republicans” and the “Progressive Turnout Project.”
While it’s not uncommon for judges to donate to political candidates, and the donations are small, it could raise ethical questions, especially as Trump has spent days attacking the judge and his family and accusing them of being biased against him.
Neither a spokesperson for the state court system nor the judge’s personal chambers responded to requests for comment when asked whether he made the donations.
Other numbers to know
2: The number of times President Joe Biden has vetoed legislation, after he vetoed a bill Thursday that sought to overturn some protections for waterways.
1,020: The number of defendants who have been arrested due to their actions on Jan. 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol, the Justice Department said in an update on Thursday.
3: The number of years of probation one man, who used to work for Alex’ Jones InfoWars, was sentenced to for his role in storming the Capitol on Jan. 6.
396%: The portion that year-to-date planned layoffs have increased this year compared to a year ago, CNBC reports.
1,300: The number of electric vehicle charging stations Walmart currently has at hundreds of its store locations, a number that the company said it plans to increase by the thousands by 2030, CNBC reports.
564,000: The number of CR-Vs Honda is recalling in some states due to a rust issue in their 2007-2011 models.
451: The number of bills targeting LGBTQ rights that have been introduced at the state level this year, according to a Pluribus News report released the same day Kansas lawmakers overrode the governor’s veto of a bill banning transgender athletes from women and girls’ sports.
$80 billion: The value of a plan the IRS announced this week to transform itself into a “digital-first” tax collection agency, the New York Times reports.
Eyes on 2024: DeSantis makes some moves
Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis has not jumped into the presidential race yet, but he’s continuing to make moves that forecast an eventual run.
On Thursday DeSantis traveled to battleground Michigan, where he received a standing ovation at a packed GOP fundraiser in Midland, per NBC News’ Selina Guevara. DeSantis repeated one of his signature lines, saying “Florida is where woke goes to die.” He also spoke at Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian school.
DeSantis’ travels have continued as the Florida legislature continues to set the governor up to tout conservative policy wins. The state Senate this week approved a six-week abortion ban, and the measure could be approved as early as next week, per Politico.
The governor’s public travels and policy efforts come as DeSantis’ team is privately planning the governor’s path to the GOP nomination, NBC News’ Henry J. Gomez and Matt Dixon report. The strategy “focuses less on making a quick splash in places like Iowa or New Hampshire and more on outlasting the former president in a battle for Republican convention delegates,” they write.
But DeSantis could face continued opposition from former President Donald Trump and his allies. MAGA Inc., the super PAC backing Trump that recently launched a TV ad criticizing DeSantis, just reserved another $1.3 million on the cable airwaves, per AdImpact, although it’s not clear if this buy will once again target the Florida governor.
In other campaign news…
Bummer for Biden: A new CNN poll had some rough numbers for President Joe Biden, with just one in three Americans saying he deserves to be re-elected, and other low marks on a range of qualities and issues.
Trump court watch: Adult film star Stormy Daniels said she would testify against Trump if the case involving hush money allegedly paid to Daniels goes to trial.
“Why get your hands dirty if you don’t have to?”: NBC News’ Peter Nicholas reports on how Democrats are strategizing a run against Trump amid his legal woes.
Show Me a primary: Missouri GOP Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft announced Thursday that he is running for governor in the Show Me State, where GOP Gov. Mike Parson cannot run for re-election due to term limits.
Another one: Trump picked up another congressional endorsement, with Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds backing the former president.
Dem dough: California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff says he raised $6.5 million in his Senate campaign’s first fundraising quarter. And Colorado GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert’s Democratic challenger Adam Frisch, who nearly defeated Boebert last year, raised $1.7 million in the first fundraising quarter, per The Hill.
New York state of mind: Trump’s recent indictment isn’t moving many Republican voters in New York’s swingy 17th District, the Washington Post reports.
Columbia record?: The New York Times reports on the race to lead South Carolina’s Democratic Party, which could result in the party electing a Black woman as its chair for the first time.
ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world:
Idaho passed the nation’s first law restricting out-of-state travel for the purpose of seeking an abortion for minors.
The Biden administration released a new report Thursday that largely blamed the Trump administration for failures in the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Following a report that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas may have violated ethics rules with undisclosed luxury gifts and travel, there has been new scrutiny of the ethics rules for Supreme Court justices and some progressive lawmakers have renewed calls for his impeachment.
The Supreme Court rejected a request from West Virginia to enforce a ban on transgender girls in sports against a 12-year-old girl while the case against the ban is still being litigated.
The Department of Education proposed a rule that would ban blanket exclusions of transgender girls and women on sports teams, but would allow some restrictions on trans athletes at certain levels.
The New York Times reports that Speaker Kevin McCarthy has told people he lacks confidence in Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, and that Majority Whip Steve Scalise is ineffective.
