Today’s edition of quick hits:
* A story we’ve been following: “House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., formally named the nine Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee Wednesday, ending a weekslong delay that may have cost special counsel Robert Mueller valuable time to act on potential leads the panel could offer just as he appears close to wrapping his investigation.”
* The Federal Reserve “opted not to raise interest rates during its policy meeting this week and pledged that future moves will be done patiently and with an eye toward how economic conditions unfold.”
* Remember Donald Trump’s and Scott Walkers’ boasts about this one? “Foxconn is reconsidering plans to make advanced liquid crystal display panels at a $10 billion Wisconsin campus, and said it intends to hire mostly engineers and researchers rather than the manufacturing workforce the project originally promised.”
* A big shift in Baltimore: “The state’s attorney in Baltimore will no longer prosecute any marijuana possession cases, regardless of the quantity of the drug or an individual’s prior criminal record, authorities announced Tuesday.”
* Remember when Trump promised in 2016 that his business used E-Verify? That wasn’t true: “President Trump’s company plans to institute E-Verify, a federal program that allows employers to check whether new hires are legally eligible to work in the United States, in every one of its golf clubs, hotels and resorts, following a Washington Post report that its club in Westchester County, N.Y., employed undocumented immigrants for years.”
* It amazes me that child-labor laws are still occasionally debated: “Under Indiana’s child labor laws, minors can work for a limited number of hours…. A new bill would scrap these rules, a move that opponents fear would enable bad actors who expose minors to excessively long working hours. But there’s another factor that has raised concerns: The bill’s author, Republican state Sen. Chip Perfect, owns a ski resort — and he employs hundreds of minors — which has led to questions about his motivations.” * I’ll confess, I don’t fully understand some of the die-hard skeptics of the Russia scandal: “In every twist and turn of the Russia investigation, Trump and his associates have been found to have lied — to Congress, to the FBI, and to the public. Somehow this pattern of behavior has not registered on the right as suspicious in any way.” * The bill needed two-thirds support, and it didn’t get it: “Illustrating the deep partisan divisions that remain following the 35-day partial government shutdown that ended Friday, the House on Wednesday rejected a symbolic resolution expressing disapproval of shutdowns as a negotiating tactic.” 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
