What to Know in Washington: DeSantis a Target in GOP Debate

Ron DeSantis is likely to face intensified attacks from lesser-known candidates eager to make their mark during tonight’s Republican presidential debate.

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy will look to seize the spotlight to overtake the Florida governor, whose campaign is reeling after a series of missteps.

China, economic policy and the war in Ukraine are all expected to be key topics of discussion, along with abortion rights and immigration. Voters and political donors will be scrutinizing the candidates’ performances to see who deserves their support with the party’s first nominating contests set for January.

Photographer: David McNew/Getty Images

The two-hour debate in Milwaukee will air on Fox News at 9 p.m. Eastern time with Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum as hosts. Hadriana Lowenkron and Stephanie Lai overview what to expect.

Politics, Probes and 2024

DeSantis Faces Make-or-Break Debate Fight Amid Campaign Disarray

DeSantis has a golden opportunity to revive his presidential bid at tonight’s debate.

Biden Camp Says Trump’s Agenda Will Be on Stage Even If He’s Not

President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is casting the Republican candidates set to take the debate stage as unable to escape Donald Trump’s “extreme agenda,” even though the former president will skip the event.

GOP Debate Cut Marks Decision Point for Low-Polling Candidates

Lower-polling Republican presidential candidates who didn’t make the cut for the first debate face a decision: stay in the race, with their prospects dwindling, or drop out months before voting even starts.

Meadows Asks Judge to Block Arrest in Georgia Election Case

Donald Trump’s former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows asked a federal judge in Georgia to block state authorities from arresting him if he fails to surrender by Aug. 25 on charges that he conspired with his ex-boss to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election.

BGOV Webinar: Civilian Agencies to Watch

Join BGOV’s government contracting analysts today at 2 p.m. for a deep dive into procurement trends and outlooks for the IRS, NASA, and the departments of Energy, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services’. Click here to register.

On Lawmaker Radars

Bernie Sanders’ Progressive Priorities Risk Labor, Health Agenda

The next month poses a major test of whether Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) chairmanship of a key Senate committee will achieve the balancing act of trying to do big things, with calls from Republicans to pursue joint efforts.

Meta, Amazon Questioned By Lawmakers About Recalled Products

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers asked Meta and other online marketplaces about efforts to end the sale of banned and recalled hazardous products on their platforms, according to statement.

• Google’s YouTube continues to collect behavioral data on children in violation of federal child privacy law despite a settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission, a group of digital advocacy organizations said. Read more.

Wenstrup Asks Yellen for Covid-Relief Spending Details

The Treasury Department should release detailed information on the potential misuse of $350 billion in Covid-19 aid allocated to state, local, territorial and tribunal governments, Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) writes in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

• Meanwhile, Regeneronand Johnson & Johnson will receive millions of dollars in US government funding as part of a $5 billion initiative to develop next-generation vaccines and treatments for Covid-19. Read more.
• At the height of the pandemic, the number of renters most vulnerable to displacement reached record levels in the US. But homelessness didn’t explode and the “eviction tsunami” that many housing advocates feared never materialized. Read more.

Around the Administration

Biden Launches Program for Poor to Forgo Student Loan Payments

The Biden administration will start accepting applications Tuesday for a new income-driven repayment plan, a fresh effort to shore up student loan borrowers facing a cliff as pandemic-era benefits end.

FDIC to Propose New Regulations for Midsize Lenders Next Week

Banking watchdogs will next week propose requiring that banks with as little as $100 billion in assets issue enough long-term debt to cover capital losses if they ever failed.

Pentagon Says It Deals With SpaceX as a Contractor, Not Musk

The Pentagon focuses on dealing with contractors like SpaceX, not individuals like its Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, a Defense Department spokesman said yesterday.

What Else We’re Reading

The Race to Ditch Russian Uranium Starts in New Mexico’s Desert

In a remote, dusty corner of New Mexico, so near to the Texas border that if you wander too close your smartphone changes time zones, sits a pristine factory that is the best chance for the US to wean itself off an addiction that few knew it had: uranium enriched in Russia.

Huawei Is Building a Secret Network for Chips, Trade Group Warns

The leading association of global chip companies is warning that Huawei Technologies Co. is building a collection of secret semiconductor-fabrication facilities across China, a shadow manufacturing network that would let the blacklisted company skirt US sanctions and further the nation’s technology ambitions.

US Puts Visa Curbs on Chinese Who Force Tibet Kids to Fit In

Washington will impose visa limits on some officials in China for their part in forcing Tibetan children to assimilate into mainstream Chinese society, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Katrice Eborn in Washington at keborn@bgov.com