Spin Meter: Santorum Downplays Senate Defeat

“Donald Trump’s campaign staff has assembled a dozen dossiers on possible running mates, but they largely remain unopened by the presidential candidate, who’s conducting his own vetting process by asking friends, consultants, and insiders whom they think he should pick and why,” The Bulwark reports. “In these discussions, two names consistently rise to the top: Marco Rubio and J.

“A law firm that has long defended Donald Trump’s campaign and businesses from employment lawsuits has abruptly asked to withdraw from a yearslong case over what it calls an ‘irreparable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship,’” the New York Times reports. “The firm — LaRocca, Hornik, Greenberg, Rosen, Kittridge, Carlin and McPartland — has represented Mr.

Punchbowl News: “One of our big questions right now is what happens if Greene or other conservative hardliners keep trying to oust Johnson? Will Democrats keep stepping up to save him?” “We put that question to Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar. They pointedly didn’t say their vow to save Johnson extends beyond this one instance…” “For Greene, the threat of ousting Johnson is in many ways more useful than the reality of actually ousting him.

“The Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates on hold Wednesday, but investors will scrutinize Jerome Powell’s subsequent press conference for hints as to the future rate path,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Politico: The Fed thinks time is on its side. That could get awkward.

“President Biden’s push to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug is the latest in a series of administrative policy moves that anxious Democrats hope will bolster his re-election standing with young voters,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Axios: Biden gives cannabis industry a badly needed win.

“President Biden has been personally involved in intense efforts in recent days to reach a hostage and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which he sees as a crucial element of a much wider strategy at home and abroad,” Axios reports. “The president’s senior advisers say the deal on the table right now is the only conceivable path to a ceasefire in Gaza and to possibly ending a war that has drawn sharp criticism of Biden among some of his key supporters ahead of the presidential election.”