Vance’s Votes Prelude Fights as Veep: What to Know in Washington

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Sen. JD Vance has a voting record of zigging where other Republicans zag — a trend that could inflame GOP infighting across Congress if Donald Trump wins the White House. But first, you should know:

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Vance’s Independent Streak Previews Senate Fights

JD Vance likes to buck Republican traditionalism, and much like his presidential running mate Donald Trump, he’s got no qualms with putting that policy into practice in Washington. Just look at his voting record.

Vance repeatedly clashed with Republican leaders on spending and military strategy in Senate votes during his two years in office. He’s sided with the GOP majority most of the time, according to Bloomberg Government data, and has fallen in line on votes for President Joe Biden’s nominees to the judiciary and executive agencies.

But a minuscule 6% broke with the party on major initiatives, including bipartisan stopgap spending measures needed to keep the government from shutting down while Congress negotiated a final appropriations deal. Vance repeatedly bucked the will of leadership who blessed deals to avoid shutdowns — including four stopgap spending bills and parts of the eventual $1.2 trillion spending deal spanning the current fiscal year.

The voting differences highlight a rift between the global and defense-minded Republicans like outgoing Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and the more isolationist and populist wing of the party led by Trump and Vance.

As vice president, Vance would preside over the Senate in a largely ceremonial role. But it would also grant him the authority to cast tie-breaking votes in a chamber that’ll likely be narrowly divided regardless of which party holds the majority. It’ll also mean coordinating with McConnell’s likely institutionalist successor — Minority Whip John Thune (S.D.) or Sen. John Cornyn (Texas). Read More

BIDEN’S SCHEDULE

President Joe Biden has no public events.
2 p.m. — Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will hold a briefing.

HARRIS’ SCHEDULE

Vice President Kamala Harris has no public events.
Harris will record video remarks for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees’ 46th International Convention, which is currently taking place in Los Angeles through Aug. 16.

Trump Camp Tries to Take Back Narrative, Hurls New Insults

Donald Trump is looking to reclaim the narrative of the 2024 presidential race, hitting back at Democratic attacks that have mocked him and his running mate.

“We’re very solid people,” Trump said, rejecting the “weird” moniker first deployed by Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, to describe the GOP ticket and its policies — a jab that was embraced by Democrats. “It’s not a word that’s really used too much in politics, but it’s a terrible thing that they could do this. It’s just a sound bite.”

Trump defended Vance and issued a barb of his own, calling Walz a “man who’s very freakish.”

Trump, at a rally in Bozeman, Mont. on Friday — his first in nearly a week and the first since Harris clinched the Democratic nomination — tested out new insults for his opponents, calling Harris “dumb” and a “bumbling, communist lunatic.” Read More

Trump’s newest insults for Harris come as the vice president is leading her Republican opponent by 4 percentage points among likely voters in each of three US battleground states, according to a survey by the New York Times and Siena College. Read More

Additionally, both camps unveiled tax and the Federal Reserve proposals over the weekend, with central bank independence emerging as a 2024 campaign issue. Trump’s supporters and opponents alike increasingly question whether he would, if reelected, seek to reduce the autonomy of the Federal Reserve. Read More

Harris said she would respect the Fed’s independence. “The Fed is an independent entity, and as president, I would never interfere in the decisions that the Fed makes,” she told reporters Saturday in Phoenix. The Democratic nominee plans to begin rolling out elements of her economic agenda in the coming week, focusing first on policies to reduce costs for American households. Read More
Harris said she would seek to end taxes on tipped income for service industry workers — matching a proposal that Trump has also made in a bid to court young people and working-class voters. Read More
Meanwhile, Vance floated more than doubling the federal child tax credit to $5,000 from its existing maximum of $2,000 per child, seeking to reframe a “pro-family” stance that has come under attack from Democrats. “I don’t think that you want this massive cutoff for lower-income families, which you have right now,” he said on CBS’s Face the Nation. Read More

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Harris Follows Swing-State Tour With Fundraiser in San Francisco

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With Lutnick’s Help, Trump Raises $15 Million at Hamptons Event

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Biden Says He Dropped Out Due to Risk He’d Be ‘Distraction’

President Joe Biden said he ended his reelection bid after hearing from congressional Democrats that he’d hurt their down-ballot chances in November, providing his fullest explanation yet of his decision to drop out.

Wisconsin Primaries Set Up Contests Key for Control of Congress

Democrats in western Wisconsin are trying to flip a Republican House seat—and must decide in Tuesday’s primary whether a union-backed legislator or Blue Dog-supported businesswoman offers their best chance at reclaiming a seat that Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R) flipped in 2022.

The contest tests whether swing-district Democrats feel they have a greater chance to win in November if they go with a self-described “outsider” or a veteran officeholder. The Blue Dog PAC and a centrist group called Welcome PAC are supporting Rebecca Cooke, a former political fundraiser and the 2022 Democratic primary runner-up. Unions, environmentalists, and progressive Rep. Mark Pocan (D) of Wisconsin’s 2nd District are supporting state Rep. Katrina Shankland (D)

Wisconsin voters also will formally tee up a Senate contest that will help determine control of the closely divided chamber.

Minnesota, Connecticut, and Vermont will also hold primaries Tuesday, where the Senate races have far less suspense and incumbents are favored to win re-election. Read More

Secret Service Failures Stir Debate Over DHS Placement

The Secret Service’s failure to prevent the attempted assassination of Trump is prompting calls to move the agency out of the Homeland Security Department.

The new push to rehome the Secret Service is in early stages but likely will gain momentum as Senate committees and a House task force investigate the security lapses surrounding the incident and craft recommendations to guard against future failures.

Moving the Secret Service out of DHS would require an act of Congress, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have considered it before. Proponents of the shift say the 7,000-person agency could get more support and priority in the Treasury Department. Skeptics warn that an organizational shuffle may just create bureaucratic headaches when the service has more urgent vulnerabilities to address. Read More

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To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kayla Sharpe at ksharpe@bloombergindustry.com

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