Vance Embraces Trump’s Populist Bent: What to Know in Washington

Vance Embraces Trump’s Populist Bent Making Big Business Nervous

Donald Trump and GOP insiders view newly Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as the future of their party. However, they don’t necessarily agree on whether that’s a good thing.

Lobbying interests and lawmakers are beginning to grapple with Trump’s vice presidential pick portends for the party’s stance on signature policy issues, including priorities for corporations.

It’s a mixed bag. John Feehery, a lobbyist and delegate to the convention from D.C., said Vance has “good and responsive staff” plus, alluding to the VP pick’s sometime opposition to business, “an outlook that creates a lot of business for K Street.”

“Vance’s selection is disconcerting for most K Street lobbyists,” said Republican lobbyist Sam Geduldig, a partner at the CGCN Group, a firm with Ohio roots that represents financial services and corporate clients. “Lobbyists are starting to realize they’re on the outside looking at a party that has fundamentally changed. This selection is the nail in the coffin in the old way of thinking.” Read More

• Also Read: What Happens to Vance’s Senate Seat If He Becomes Vice President

Trump attended the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wis. yesterday evening, his first public appearance following an assassination attempt over the weekend. Read More

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden defended his suggestion that Trump should be “put in the bullseye” in an NBC News interview yesterday following the assassination attempt on his Republican opponent. Read More

The president further blasted Vance and previewed Democrats’ bid to cast doubt on his populist credentials. “He and Trump want to raise taxes on middle-class families while pushing more tax cuts for the rich,” Biden wrote in a post on X. Read More

• Vance’s selection poses a career decision for his wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance, a litigation associate at Munger Tolles & Olson, whose attorneys take cases before the Supreme Court and whose clients have included Bank of America and Google. Read More
• Trump Woos RFK: Trump met with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. yesterday to discuss the possibility of the independent candidate endorsing the Republican presidential nominee, Politico reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Read More

The Secret Service has bolstered the security details of Biden, Trump, and Vice President Kamala Harris. Additionally, Vance will receive an “appropriate level of security,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said yesterday at the White House amid scrutiny of the agency’s protective efforts.

Separately, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said the agency’s failure to protect Trump from being wounded Saturday at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., was “unacceptable” and “something that shouldn’t happen again.” While Cheatle said she didn’t plan to resign, she did say there would be “immediate changes” to protocols including expanding “tactical support” for Trump during an interview with ABC News. Read More

More from the RNC:

• JD Vance’s Deep Tech Ties Draw Cheers From Silicon Valley
• Trump Picking Vance Widens Rift With Foreign Policy Old Guard
• Vance’s Scorn for Clean Energy Grew as Ohio Embraced It
• Trump VP Pick Vance Says China Is the ‘Biggest Threat’ to US

Democratic voters in New Jersey’s 10th District today will pick their nominee to finish the term of the late ex-Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D). The 11-candidate primary includes Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver, whose backers include Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Gov. Phil Murphy (D), Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, and relatives of Payne, who died in April.

New Jersey’s 10th District, which takes in most of Newark and Jersey City, is the state’s most strongly Democratic district and the winner of the primary will be a prohibitive favorite to win the Sept. 18 special general election and serve the remainder of the current 118th Congress. Voting concludes at 8 p.m.

BIDEN’S SCHEDULE

• 3 p.m. — Biden will be interviewed by BET’s Ed Gordon in Las Vegas.
• 4 p.m. — The president will deliver remarks during the 115th NAACP National Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada
• 6:45 p.m. — Biden will participate in an economic summit with Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.).

CONVENTION AGENDA:

• For the latest on the RNC, read BGOV’s special edition Convention Tracker newsletter.

Politics & Probes

Trump Special Counsel to Appeal Dismissal of Documents Case

Special Counsel Jack Smith will appeal a Florida judge’s decision dismissing the federal case charging Donald Trump with mishandling classified information and obstruction, according to a spokesman for Smith’s office.

Trump Judge’s Ruling on Special Counsel Veers From Recent Cases

A US judge broke fresh legal ground by dismissing a criminal case accusing Donald Trump of mishandling classified documents, ruling that Special Counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed.

Menendez Jury Ends Second Day of Talks After Bribe Question

Jurors at the corruption trial of US Senator Bob Menendez ended a second day of deliberations without a verdict after asking the judge about two bribery charges and whether they must be unanimous to acquit on any count.

Pro-Trump Lawyer Kurt Olsen Faces Call for Discipline Over Ethics

Another lawyer involved in actions to undermine the results of the 2020 and 2022 elections is now facing calls for professional discipline.

Elon Musk to Give $45 Million a Month to Pro-Trump Super PAC

Elon Musk is pledging to pour $45 million a month into a pro-Donald Trump political group, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that would flood the Republican nominee’s reelection effort with cash through the November election.

Biden Urges Rent Control for Corporate Landlords

President Joe Biden is calling on Congress to give large landlords a choice: Agree to cap rent hikes at no more than 5% per year, or forfeit coveted federal tax breaks.

Under the White House plan — which Biden will formally announce today during a visit to Las Vegas, where he will speak to Black and Latino groups —property owners with 50 or more units would not be able to take depreciation write-offs available to all rental property owners unless they abide by the rental caps for the next two years. Biden will also announce that the administration is looking to unlock public lands in southern Nevada to support the construction of some 15,000 affordable housing units near Las Vegas.

The plan is an effort to respond to Americans’ frustrations about high housing costs, which have hurt Biden’s standing among voters. Yet the proposal faces steep odds in Congress, where legislation would have to pass the GOP-controlled House and win a supermajority of votes in a closely divided Senate. Read More

To contact the reporters on this story: Brandon Lee in Washington at blee@bgov.com; Jeannie Baumann in Washington at jbaumann@bloombergindustry.com

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kayla Sharpe at ksharpe@bloombergindustry.com; Giuseppe Macri at gmacri@bgov.com