© Illustration / Courtney Jones; Manuel Balce Ceneta and Stephanie Scarbrough, Associated Press; and Adobe Stock |
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It’s game day. Former President Trump and Vice President Harris will square-off at their first — and likely only — presidential debate at 9 p.m. EDT in Philadelphia.
The ABC News debate could be the best and only chance for the candidates to shake-up a race that’s getting tighter by the day, with new polls showing Trump and Harris running even in national surveys and in the seven battleground states that will determine the outcome of the November election. Tens of millions of Americans will be tuning in to Tuesday’s debate. A new NPR poll found that an astonishing 30 percent of voters said the debate will help decide their vote. Will Tuesday night alter the trajectory of the race or are we headed for a photo finish? What to watch for as Trump and Harris take the stage together for 90 tense minutes in Pennsylvania, the most important swing-state on the map: -
How will Harris perform under the bright lights? Trump is a known quantity, and his dismantling of President Biden at the debate in July ultimately led to Harris becoming the nominee. This will be Harris’s first debate since the 2020 presidential cycle during the vice presidential debate. Harris’s background as a prosecutor should be an asset against a rival who’s been convicted on felony charges. But Harris’s campaign has largely shielded her from interviews, press conferences and unscripted moments, raising the stakes for her on the biggest stage imaginable.
- How will Trump attack Harris? The former president has been criticized by many in his own party for his personal attacks, including inflammatory remarks about Harris’s race and intelligence. Polls show the gender gap is a huge problem for Trump.
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How does Harris explain her policy changes? Harris has been dogged by the many left-wing positions she took during the 2020 primaries. CNN dropped the latest retrospective Monday, finding that in 2019 Harris came out in support of cutting funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and supported taxpayer funding of gender transition surgeries for detained immigrants and federal prisoners. Because Harris has avoided interviews, she might be asked about some of these positions for the first time Tuesday evening. Polls show many voters currently view Trump as more moderate, and Harris’s goal at the debate is to win the middle.
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Will Trump be dogged by his convictions, threats and conspiracies? Trump may have to answer for his recent inflammatory rhetoric around claims of fraud and threatening to jail his political opponents. Those remarks could draw attention to Trump’s myriad legal troubles and his crusades against the prosecutors who have charged him with election interference, mishandling classified documents, and other crimes.
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Does the media play a role? ABC News will be closely scrutinized over what they ask, what they don’t ask, and how they moderate the high-stakes debate. Trump has been railing against the network over allegations of bias. The Harris campaign has fumed that the microphones will be off for the candidate who is not asked a question, limiting the back and forth between the two. Anchor David Muir is well known, but many Americans will be introduced to co-moderator Linsey Davis for the first time.
Follow along with the debate:
Perspectives:
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Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Jonathan Easley, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here. |
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Shutdown clock ticks: Johnson moving ahead with funding plan despite growing opposition
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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is plowing ahead with a six-month continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government attached to a bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote, even as a growing number of House Republicans come out in opposition. Johnson’s plan to avert a government shutdown is potentially setting the stage for an embarrassing floor vote, The Hill’s Mychael Schnell and Emily Brooks report. But Johnson is unwavering in his insistence that the six-month CR be attached to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. “We’re going to put the SAVE Act and the CR together and we’re going to move that through the process,” Johnson said. “I am resolved to that. We’re not looking at any other alternative or any other step; I think it’s the right thing to do.” “You all know how I operate – you do the right thing, and you let the chips fall where they may…So, we’ll see what happens,” he added.
The government will run out of money on Sept. 30 if a deal isn’t reached. The state of play: - Johnson can only afford four Republican defections if no Democrats vote for the CR. So far, six Republicans have announced they won’t vote for the bill.
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Trump weighed in Tuesday, saying Republicans shouldn’t pass budget stopgap without “assurances on Election Security.”
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House Democrats are whipping against the CR. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is pushing for a shorter-term CR that would allow the lame-duck Congress to address the issue after the election in November or December.
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Five moderate House Democrats voted for the SAVE Act when it passed the House with full GOP support in July. Their votes could determine the fate of Johnson’s CR bill.
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Johnson’s CR proposal received a chilly response from Senate Republicans, The Hill’s Al Weaver and Aris Folley report.
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Attaching the SAVE Act to the CR is a nonstarter among Democrats, who control the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said “the House should stop wasting time on a C.R. proposal that cannot become law. Instead, Republicans should work with Democrats on a bipartisan package that has input from both sides.”
More from Capitol Hill: |
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© Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images |
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Final primary elections underway
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Voters are at the polls in New Hampshire, Delaware and Rhode Island for the final round of primaries before the general election in November.
A few races to watch… Delaware -
State Sen. Sarah McBride (D) is running to replace retiring Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D) as the state’s at-large House member. If McBride wins the primary and general election, she would become the first openly transgender member of Congress.
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The race to replace term-limited Gov. John Carney (D) has attracted three Republicans and three Democrats. Delaware Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long (D) has run into trouble after an audit found her campaign’s expenditures were “incomplete, inconsistent, and often inaccurate.” The campaign paid more than a quarter of a million dollars to Hall-Long’s husband and campaign treasurer Dana Long, which was not reported in the filings.
New Hampshire -
Democrats and Republicans will pick their candidates to replace outgoing four-term Gov. Chris Sununu (R). On the Democratic side, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig and Executive councilor Cinde Warmington are the top candidates. Craig has been leading in the polls. Republican frontrunners include former Sen. Kelly Ayotte and former State Senate President Chuck Morse. Sununu has endorsed Ayotte, who is ahead in the polls.
- The Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (D-N.H.) has turned nasty between former Biden official Maggie Woodlander and former Executive Councilor Colin Van Ostern, with a debate between the two last week getting personal at times. The winner of the primary is favored to win the general election to replace Kuster.
The Hill’s Caroline Vakil has the full rundown here.
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A round-up of news from across the country… -
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to remove his name from the ballot to avoid playing spoiler for President Trump are playing out differently across the battlegrounds. Michigan’s Supreme Court ruled that Kennedy’s name must remain on the ballot, while in North Carolina ballots must be reprinted to remove Kennedy’s name.
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The Biden administration is approving the Greenland West Transmission Project, creating a new system of power lines from Las Vegas to Reno in Nevada. The electric power transmission and solar project is a vital part of the administration’s clean energy initiative.
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U.S. House members from California are calling for urgent action to address toxic air pollution stemming from noxious gas emanating out of the Tijuana River. Four Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to President Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) calling for a federal state of emergency declaration over wastewater laced with chemicals and pathogens flowing from Mexico into California.
- The Missouri Supreme Court will decide the fate of an abortion rights amendment after a lower court ruling jeopardized the push to expand abortion rights in the deep red state.
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21 days until the vice presidential debate between Vance and Walz. 56 days until the 2024 general election.
132 days until Inauguration Day 2025.
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