News Information and Media Site: GOP governors defy Supreme Court, federal government

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Ben Kamisar, Bridget Bowman and Alexandra Marquez

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

FIRST READ

GOP governors defy Supreme Court, federal government

Julie Bennett / AP file

If it's TUESDAY… President Biden signs proclamation at noon ET establishing Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument… Israeli parliament passes key part of Prime Minister Netanyahu's controversial judicial overhaul… Donald Trump attends fundraiser in Louisiana… Nikki Haley and Chris Christie campaign in New Hampshire… And it appears that seven candidates have now qualified for next month's GOP presidential debate.

But FIRST... It's Republican governors vs. the U.S. Supreme Court and the federal government.

Late last week, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law a new redistricting map that defied a Supreme Court ruling ordering the state to draw two Black-majority congressional districts – or something close to it.

Instead, the GOP-controlled legislature drew only one.

"The legislature knows our state, our people and our districts better than the federal courts or activist groups, and I am pleased that they answered the call, remained focused and produced new districts ahead of the court deadline," Ivey said.

And on Monday, the Biden Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Texas and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott for placing buoys in the Rio Grande River to deter migrants from crossing into the United States.

The administration argues that Abbott's buoys violate the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899 (which prohibits the creation of obstructions not authorized by Congress) and failed to obtain necessary permits.

"Texas will see you in court, Mr. President," Abbott wrote President Biden.

Now presidents have routinely quarreled with governors and states controlled by the opposition party. (Remember all of California's lawsuits against the Trump administration?)

But Alabama's defiance appears different – and it harkens back to clashes from the 1950s and 1960s between southern states and the federal government.

Headline of the day

Data Download: The number of the day is ... 7

That's how many candidates so far appear to have qualified for the first GOP presidential primary debate, per the NBC News Political Unit's analysis of public polling and statements about fundraising.

Six appeared to qualify on Monday, and that list isn't surprising: former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

And on Tuesday morning, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum also appeared to qualify for the debate thanks to Morning Consult's weekly tracking poll, which finds Burgum at 1% in the GOP primary.

But there's still a month to go for other candidates to get the donors and reach the polling requirements to qualify (remember: all that is moot if you don't agree to back the party's eventual nominee, since that's another piece of the criteria candidates have to meet).

Read more on the Meet the Press Blog.

Other numbers to know

600MB

The amount of data – mostly PDFs – that former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik's lawyer gave to special counsel Jack Smith's office as part of an ongoing investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Kerik's lawyer said Monday.

More than 4

The number of years a Jan. 6 rioter was sentenced to prison. He repeatedly struck a police officer with a flag pole on the steps of the Capitol.

76%

Gov. Phil Scott's, R-Vt., approval rating, as Morning Consult polling shows him to be the most popular governor in America.

The number of men indicted by a grand jury for a firebombing attack on a California Planned Parenthood last year.

More than half

The number of states whose legislatures have improved their victim compensation programs in the last few years, according to an Associated Press analysis.

The amount by which Spotify will raise the price of its premium service, its first price increase since 2011.

45%

The percentage decline in children who received free summer lunches in 2023 compared to 2022, according to a report from the Food Research & Action Center.

$20 million

The amount that the conservative Club for Growth is readying to spend to protect House lawmakers who opposed Speaker Kevin McCarthy's bid for speaker earlier this year, Politico reports.

Blog / Meet The Press

Eyes on 2024: Making the case against Trump

Patrick Semansky / AP file

Win it Back PAC, a group hitting the airwaves to take on former President Donald Trump in the GOP primary, is launching a new TV ad Tuesday featuring a former Trump supporter who says the former president is "polarizing" and unelectable, noting that Trump-backed candidates lost in last year's midterms.

"When his endorsement makes you lose, things just aren't working out well," the man says in the 60-second spot, which will air in Iowa and South Carolina as part of a $3.6 million ad buy.

David McIntosh, president of the conservative group Club for Growth who is working with the PAC, told reporters during a Monday night briefing that the group tested roughly 30 different messages against Trump, and GOP voters were not swayed by more straightforward attacks.

"Part of what we wanted to portray in the ads was Trump supporters are anxious about whether he can beat Biden – winning that race is the most important thing," McIntosh said, later adding, "The testing with focus groups and some of the online polling showed voters were willing to listen to that message."

McIntosh stressed that the PAC is separate from the Club for Growth, which also spent against Trump in 2016 but then backed him, in part because of its funding but also to distance Club-backed candidates from the anti-Trump effort. McIntosh said the Club for Growth would back Trump if he is the nominee, noting the main concern is that Trump cannot defeat President Joe Biden.

For now, the Club is not endorsing a candidate in the GOP primary. But McIntosh name-checked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy as candidates who have "impressed" the group, adding that some members also support former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence.

In other campaign news …

Tim Scott on the move: While South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott is still trailing in national polling, his early ad spending in the first few primary and caucus states has him popping in statewide polling there, NBC News' Scott Bland reports.

Haley on Trump: During a Monday appearance on CNBC, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley reaffirmed her pledge to support Trump if he's the nominee, but said Trump "can't win a general election."

Win or withdraw: In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Utah GOP Sen. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee for president, urged non-Trump candidates to withdraw from the race and coalesce around the one Trump challenger who seems to have the best path to the nomination after several early primary and caucus contests next year.

A "longer than long shot candidate": The New York Times went on the road with former Texas GOP Rep. Will Hurd, who is mounting a longshot campaign for president, hoping a unity message can boost his standing among Republican primary voters.

A quick rise: Meanwhile, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who was thought to be a longshot candidate when he announced his campaign in February, has risen in the polls. NBC News' Allan Smith reports voters on the ground are enthusiastic about him, albeit not always more supportive of Ramaswamy than they are of Trump.

Dark money wars: The Lincoln Project is spending $100,000 on the airwaves in D.C., NBC News' Vaughn Hillyard reports, funding an ad that knocks the No Labels group, its founder Nancy Jacobson and her husband, Mark Penn, a former advisor to President Bill Clinton.

On second thought: About a week after saying he wasn't ready to pick sides in the 2024 GOP presidential race, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is running for Senate, backed Trump.

Speaking of second thoughts: Club for Growth President David McIntosh appeared to tamper expectations that the group would endorse GOP Rep. Matt Rosendale if he runs for Senate in Montana. McIntosh stressed that Rosendale has not yet decided if he is going to run, noting that the group has also met with Republican Tim Sheehy, who has the backing of GOP leaders and top Montana Republicans. McIntosh said Sheehy met with the group and he was an "impressive candidate."

Working Families weighs in on California: The Working Families Party in California backed Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee in her Senate campaign.

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