Today’s edition of quick hits.
* As expected: “The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced a highly anticipated interest rate cut, a move indicating that concerns about a slowing labor market now outweigh ongoing worries about inflation. It’s the Fed’s first rate cut this year. Policymakers opted for a quarter-point cut to the central bank’s benchmark rate, in line with expectations. It’s now set at 4% to 4.25%.”
* On a related note, the White House’s guy on the Fed board acted like the White House’s guy on the Fed board: “The vote for the quarter-point cut by the Fed’s rate-setting committee was 11 to 1. The sole dissenter, in favor of a larger half-point cut, was newly appointed governor Stephen Miran. He was sworn in this week even as he maintains his title as chair of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, though he is officially on leave from that role.”
* In the Middle East: “Israel pressed ahead Wednesday with an intense new ground offensive in Gaza City, defying international condemnation and sending hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing the devastated, famine-stricken area.”
* While RFK Jr. stumbles, the West Coast Health Alliance climbs: “Four Democratic-controlled Western states on Wednesday issued their own recommendations on who should get three common seasonal vaccines, a sharp rejection of efforts by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to upend vaccine policy at the federal level.”
* House Republicans apparently consider 14-year-old criminal suspects to be adults: “House lawmakers voted Tuesday to allow 14-year-olds to be tried as adults for serious crimes and to treat young people more harshly in the D.C. justice system — fulfilling a top request from the Trump administration despite universal opposition among top D.C. elected officials.”
* Patel isn’t exactly a reliable source for accurate information: “FBI Director Kash Patel claimed Wednesday that he is barred by recent court orders from releasing thousands of documents connected to disgraced sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. … But Patel appears to be mischaracterizing those recent court orders.”
* The latest burgeoning fiasco: “More than two dozen children from Guatemala whom the Trump administration sought to deport earlier this month had been flagged as vulnerable to child abuse and human trafficking in a Health and Human Services Department database that tracks unaccompanied children, according to a whistle-blower complaint filed to Congress on Tuesday.” * Remember, Republicans have been staunchly opposed to efforts to combat foreign disinformation campaigns: “Russia moved to amplify online conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk’s killing just hours after it happened, seeding social media with the frightening claim that America is slipping into civil war. Chinese and pro-Iranian groups also spread disinformation about the shooting.” * This was an odd thing to say out loud: “A video showing President Donald Trump saying ‘smart people don’t like me’ is going viral on social media.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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