Biden campaign voices confidence in Harris following Vance pick
The Biden campaign expressed confidence in Vice President Kamala Harris hours after former President Donald Trump announced J.D. Vance as his running mate.
Biden campaign spokesperson TJ Ducklo said she would be prepared to face off against Vance at the sole vice presidential debate scheduled on July 23 or August 13.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told reporters she’s looking forward to the vice presidential debate.
“She is strong,” Warren, a top Biden campaign surrogate, said. “She knows what she’s talking about and she doesn’t give an inch. And she has the better end of the argument.”
The campaign said Trump’s pick cements his ticket as the most extreme and out-of-touch presidential ticket in American history that would cause actual harm to the American people if elected.
“Vance won Trump's veepstakes by passing his MAGA litmus tests with flying colors. Trump picked JD Vance as his running mate because he will do what Mike Pence wouldn’t on January 6: Bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and certainly no matter the harm to the American people,” campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said.
O’Malley Dillon listed Vance’s proposals in Project 2025, his anti-abortion record, opposition to the Affordable Care Act and expansions to Social Security and Medicare as vulnerabilities the campaign planned to exploit.
“So with Trump and Vance now entering the general election, they're facing off against the Biden Harris ticket. And I will certainly take that matchup any day of the week and twice on Sunday.”
Mayorkas: RFK Jr. to receive USSS protection
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters at this afternoon’s White House press briefing that President Biden directed his agency to provide Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the conspiracy theorist and independent presidential candidate, United States Secret Service protection in the aftermath of the Trump assassination attempt.
Mayorkas added that former President Trump has received enhanced Secret Service protection based on the evolving nature of threats and his imminent shift from presumptive nominee to nominee.
“This includes enhancements related to securing the former president during the Republican National Convention this week.”
Mayorkas also announced an independent review of the incident will be conducted. He said DHS is currently selecting who will lead the review and the findings will be made public. He did not set a specific timeline for the review’s completion but said it needed to be swift.
Trump taps Vance for VP
Former President Donald Trump selected Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) to be the vice presidential nominee on the Republican ticket this November.
“After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump said in an announcement on his Truth Social app.
Trump also highlighted Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio and Minnesota as crucial swing states Vance would solidify as his running mate.
Vance was once an outspoken critic of Trump before his election to the Senate in 2022 but has since become one of the former president’s fiercest defenders and a sharp departure from the button-up demeanor of former Vice President Mike Pence, Trump’s first running mate. (Pence fell out of favor with Trump after he refused to block the certification of the 2020 election for President Biden.) The 39-year-old Vance is also seen as someone who can inherit the Make America Great Again movement once Trump rides off into the sunset.
The Biden campaign and Democratic National Committee are expected to attack Vance on the Trump flip-flop and his support of a national abortion ban, cuts to Social Security and Medicare and election denialism.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-N.D.)—the other two names on the shortlist—reportedly received calls this afternoon informing them they were not selected.
Senior House Judiciary Dem renews call for court reform
Rep. Hank Johnson (Ga.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee on Courts, accused Judge Aileen Cannon of following the roadmap Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas outlined in the concurring opinion in the case that decided former President Trump was immune from federal prosecution for official acts taken in office.
“As she auditions to join Thomas on SCOTUS, Thomas, his wife and the others get more goodies from the oligarchs,” Johnson said. We must fix our broken democracy by fixing [the Supreme Court].”
Johnson is the chair of the Court Reform Now task force, a body of House Democrats he assembled to advance his goal of restoring balance and accountability to the Court amid a broader crisis of public confidence in the federal judiciary. Read more about the task force.
Schumer blasts Trump classified docs case dismissal
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) criticized the decision by a federal district court to dismiss the classified documents case against former President Trump.
“This breathtakingly misguided ruling flies in the face of long-accepted practice and repetitive judicial precedence,” he said in a statement. “It is wrong on the law and must be appealed immediately. This is further evidence that Judge Cannon cannot handle this case impartially and must be reassigned.”
Trump responds to classified docs decision
Former President Donald Trump took a victory lap on his Truth Social app following the decision to toss out the federal criminal case against former President Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents after his presidency. He called the dismissal the first step in ending what he describes as politically motivated investigations against him. He attacked President Biden without evidence for directing the Justice Department to target the former president in what he describes as election interference. Trump also urged the dismissal of his three other cases: The federal election interference case in Washington, DC, the election interference case in Georgia and the hush money case in New York City.
Peters to receive FBI briefing on Trump shooting
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) told reporters at the US Capitol that the FBI will brief him on the Trump assassination attempt. Peters, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee and presided over the Senate’s pro forma session this morning, is expected to lead his committee’s investigation into the shooting. He spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Judge tosses Trump classified docs case
BREAKING: US District Court Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the federal criminal case against former President Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents after his presidency in a ruling that determined the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional. The case marked the former president's first federal indictment and the decision will likely be appealed.
Trump was indicted on 37 felony counts in June 2023 in a Miami district court with three additional felonies charged against Trump in a superseding indictment filed the following month.
The most serious charges against Trump carried a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Biden, Harris briefed on latest Trump rally shooting developments
President Biden and Vice President Harris received a briefing this morning in the White House Situation Room from homeland security and law enforcement officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, FBI Director Chris Wray and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
Biden said in an address to the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday night that the FBI had not yet discovered the motive of the shooter or his political ideology.
In remarks from the Roosevelt Room on Sunday afternoon, the president outlined a series of directives he ordered in the wake of the attempted assassination of former President Trump, including for the head of the Secret Service to review all security measures for the Republican National Convention, which kicked off today.
Monday happenings
All times Eastern
The House and Senate are out.
11:00 a.m. President Biden and Vice President Harris will receive an updated briefing on the investigation into the Trump assassination attempt.
3:45 p.m. The president will sit down for an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt.
4:30 p.m. Biden will leave the White House to travel to Las Vegas, where he will arrive at 6:30 p.m.
Vice President HArris will receive briefings and hold internal meetings with her staff.