Southern Poverty Law Center Got Rich Opposing Trump. Now He’s Trying to Crush It. – WSJ
Open Primaries Have Their Fans. The Parties Are Not Among Them. – The New York Times
When Louisiana voters cast ballots on Saturday, Senator Bill Cassidy’s political demise could be hastened by a decision his fellow Republicans made two years ago: getting rid of an open, nonpartisan primary in favor of a closed system in which Republicans and Democrats compete separately.
That nonpartisan primary was adopted, in part, to empower politicians like Mr. Cassidy who have been willing to cross party leaders and reach across the aisle. Supporters of open primaries and political scientists who have studied them say they increase voter participation and elect more middle-of-the-road candidates.
Across the country, partisans are turning against such systems. In response, supporters are intensifying their advocacy with an even bigger claim, based on research commissioned by open primary proponents: Open primaries may better people’s quality of life in tangible ways that include increased prosperity, longer lives and lower murder rates.
How Kevin Warsh Could Shrink the Fed’s Footprint in Financial Markets – The New York Times
To Kevin M. Warsh, the Federal Reserve’s more than $6 trillion portfolio of government bonds and mortgage-backed securities is emblematic of everything that has gone wrong at the institution he hopes to lead.
The Fed’s decision to expand its portfolio by so much and so quickly since the 2008 global financial crisis has stoked inflation, worsened inequality and distorted the process of how financial assets are priced, according to Mr. Warsh, who is awaiting confirmation to become the next chair. The growing size of the investments on its balance sheet has jeopardized the Fed’s own independence by treading into territory far outside its congressional mandate, he believes. And it has made Wall Street overly reliant on the Fed, creating an unhealthy expectation that the central bank will always be ready to ride to the rescue.
Mr. Warsh’s plan to rectify this appears, on the surface, relatively straightforward. He wants the Fed to have a smaller footprint in financial markets and for there to be closer coordination with the Treasury Department on what the Fed holds in its portfolio and what the government issues in terms of debt to fund itself. Mr. Warsh has argued that reducing the central bank’s holdings will give officials space to lower interest rates, something President Trump has long desired. The rationale is that longer-term rates are likely to rise as the balance sheet shrinks, which then could be offset by lowering short-term rates.
Achieving all of this will be anything but straightforward, however. It will take careful planning and a significant amount of time in order to avoid creating damaging volatility.
Judge Slams Trump Administration for ‘Serious Breakdown’ in Legal Ethics – The New York Times
A federal judge slammed the Department of Homeland Security on Monday for making “erroneous and dangerous” statements after the department publicly attacked her for siding with a man it deemed “a violent criminal illegal alien.”
Trump administration officials had not told Judge Melissa R. DuBose that the man she was about to release on bond, Bryan Rafael Gomez, was wanted for murder in the Dominican Republic. The judge, who was appointed by President Joseph R. Biden Jr., ordered the release of Mr. Gomez on April 28 after he filed a petition challenging the legality of his detention.
Two days later, the Department of Homeland Security posted a news release attacking her on the basis of the information that it had withheld.
