Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Trade wars aren’t easy to win after all: “The U.S. will impose an additional 10 percent tariff on $300 billion in Chinese imports starting next month, President Donald Trump announced Thursday via tweet.”
* Trump’s North Korea policy continues to fail: “North Korea fired two more short-range ballistic missiles on Friday morning local time, according to three U.S. officials, its third launch of short-range missiles in just over a week.”
* Today’s budget vote was 67 to 28: “The Senate on Thursday gave final passage to a budget agreement approved by the House last week that would raise spending limits that would otherwise take effect and suspend the debt ceiling through mid-2021.”
* DOJ: “The Justice Department’s internal watchdog referred former FBI Director James Comey for prosecution over the leaking of some of his memos to the media, law enforcement sources told NBC News Thursday. The Department of Justice, however, declined to prosecute Comey, the sources said.”
* Graham got more than a little grumpy today: “Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee slammed their Republican chairman, Lindsey Graham, on Thursday after he forced a vote to report a bill to change asylum laws out of the panel, claiming his Democratic colleagues didn’t show up for a markup last week.”
* The Kremlin acknowledged this hours before the White House did: “While everyone was watching the Democratic primary debate on Wednesday night, the White House decided it was a good moment to acknowledge a phone call today between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.”
* It’s probably best to keep expectations low about her tenure: “The Senate confirmed Kelly Knight Craft on Wednesday to serve as President Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, in a vote that fell largely along party lines with leading Democrats saying she lacks the necessary qualifications.” * I wish the public better understood this aspect of Trump’s legacy: “The Senate confirmed 13 of President Trump’s judicial picks this week, helping clear the deck ahead of the five-week August recess.” * And though it may sometimes seem as if House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) isn’t pushing the issue of obtaining Trump’s new tax returns too aggressively, he has a new op-ed today presenting his argument. Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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." Recommended
