Here are the stories our panel of top political reporters are talking about in this week’s “Inside Politics” forecast, where you get a glimpse of tomorrow’s headlines today.
1. Democrats plan post-election probes
They haven’t won anything yet, but Democrats are already mapping out plans to investigate the president if they take control of the House.
“I’m told that the potential chairmen of some key committees have been meeting and discussing how they would carry out their investigations of the Trump administration,” CNN’s Manu Raju said.
“One of the big things they’re trying to make sure of is they do not duplicate the investigations, because there are several committees that are pushing very hard to look at a variety of issues, everything from immigration to travel controversies to the Russia investigation,” Raju said. “So expect those subpoenas to be flying in all sorts of directions.”
2. Democrats’ Latino voter worries
Why aren’t Democrats polling better in districts with heavy Latino populations?
That’s a question party strategists are asking as the midterms enter the homestretch.
“We’ve seen a lot of polls recently of some of the crucial House races in California, Texas and Florida,” said Time’s Molly Ball. “Democrats are increasingly worried that they are not seeing Latino voters galvanized in the same way that women have been and African-Americans have been, and that’s a concern in the Trump era,” Ball said. “It’s a concern for a lot of the most crucial races on the midterm map.”
3. A pre-midterm shutdown?
The government’s fiscal year ends September 30, meaning Congress has until then to pass a bill that President Trump will sign.
“GOP leaders think they have convinced the president to sign all their spending bills and kick any shutdown fight over his border wall with Mexico until after the election,” said Politico’s Rachael Bade. “But there are some factions in the White House who are advising him to go for it now, that it will energize the base.”
But no matter what anyone recommends, Bade said the president might just go with his gut. “Predicting the president is kind of a fool’s errand.”
4. FEMA chief’s future
FEMA administrator Brock Long appears to have saved his job, at least for now.
Long will reimburse the federal government after an inspector general probe found he improperly used government-owned cars to travel between FEMA headquarters in Washington and his home in North Carolina. The Wall Street Journal’s Michael Bender said that could amount to tens of thousands of dollars.
“He got a major show of support from Kirstjen Nielsen, the Homeland Security secretary, but he’s still not quite in the clear,” Bender said. “The inspector general is still looking at Mr. Long. They’re looking at his relationship with FEMA contractors and, in at least one instance, that includes discussions of future employment.”
