Former National Security Advisor John Bolton's name may not have made it onto the Senate floor until the final hours of the president's defense arguments Monday, but he's on everyone's minds ahead of the final day of defense.
"I'd like to hear from John Bolton," Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told Cheddar when asked about the new Republican plan which, from the sounds of it, might be gaining steam in the Senate hallways today. Senators James Lankford (R-Okla.) suggested senators should be able to read Bolton's bombshell manuscript in a classified setting, though Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, have criticized that idea as "absurd" since the book will be published next month.
"We should see it, but that's no substitute for taking an oath. A manuscript isn't done under oath. And it also isn't a substitute for being cross-examined," Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told Cheddar. "As the White House counsel says, cross-examination is the greatest engine for the discovery of truth. They've said it now twice. So we should examine and cross-examine."
Although Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) initially appeared to support Lankford's suggestion, he later clarified his tweeted remarks to reporters.
"Apparently [Bolton's manuscript] is in a classified setting now. I'm just suggesting if it's in a classified setting now, let's look at it in that setting," Graham told reporters on his way to the Senate floor on Tuesday afternoon. "This was Senator Lankford's idea, it makes perfect sense to me. I don't know if that's achievable but that would be a solution to the problem."
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
