VP Kamala Harris gets a crash course on foreign policy . . . Harris spent the bulk of her career as a prosecutor, rising to become California’s attorney general. While she served on the Intelligence Committee during her four years in the U.S. Senate, foreign affairs was not a major policy focus either during her time in Washington or her presidential campaign. Biden wants Harris to catch up and has urged her to engage with foreign leaders directly and develop her own rapport with key U.S. partners. Another, more strategic reason for the encouragement: as the heir apparent to the Democratic Party—especially if Biden, who is 78 years old, doesn’t run for re-election—Harris needs to bulk up her foreign policy expertise, and fast. Politico

 

Biden is now flying illegal immigrants to their relatives in the US . . . Since January "the number of [illegal immigrant] minors in federal custody has more than tripled to 7,000" and that Health and Human Services has instructed ICE to "purchase airplane tickets and cover other transportation costs for minors whose relatives are already living in the United States." Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is "getting ICE to help transport migrants northward so they can be processed and released." You read that correctly. The Biden administration is literally flying illegal immigrants to be with their families in the U.S. This is how the refugee and "asylum" scam works.  Washington Examiner

 

Washington Post suggests failure to confirm Biden nominees is racist . . . President Biden focused on diversity as he chose his nominees. And then, when they don’t get confirmed quickly, Republicans get charged with racism. The Post highlights the plight of Neera Tandem, whose nomination to be OMB chief is probably about to go down in flames. This is not because she is Indian-American, but because she has spent hours and hours tweeting ad hominem attacks, including against senators. Whether you think that’s a good reason to vote against her or not, that’s the reason. This seems like something of a last-ditch effort to save her nomination by playing the race card. White House Dossier

Biden speaks with Saudi king ahead of Khashoggi report going public . . . President Biden on Thursday spoke with Saudi Arabian King Salman ahead of the release of a declassified redacted report that implicates his son, Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A White House readout of the call does not mention Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist who was killed in 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The 35-year-old crown prince is the de facto ruler of the oil-rich kingdom, though the 85-year-old king remains officially in charge. New York Post

Mitch McConnell: I'd support Donald Trump if he wins 2024 nomination . . . Less than a month after excoriating Donald Trump in a blistering floor speech, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that he would “absolutely” support the former president again if he secured the Republican nomination in 2024.  The Kentucky Republican told Fox News that there’s still “a lot to happen between now” and the next presidential election. 

“I’ve got at least four members that I think are planning on running for president, plus governors and others,” McConnell said. “There’s no incumbent. Should be a wide open race. Washington Times

Trump shares plans for new super PAC . . .  The ex-president told political advisers Thursday that former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski will run a new super PAC. “MAGA supporters and candidates supporting President Trump’s America First agenda are going to be impressed with the political operation being built out here," Miller said. "We expect formal announcements of the full team in the coming weeks, which will include some very talented operatives not yet named." Politico

Mitch McConnell accuses Democrats of plot to 'nationalize' elections . . . Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday accused House Democrats of plotting to “nationalize” elections, arguing that legislation headed for a vote next week would mandate mail-in voting and forbid states from implementing voter ID laws. “In this country, states and localities run elections,” Mr. McConnell said on the Senate floor. “Those of us in the federal government do not get a stranglehold over the ways in which voters decide our fates. House Democrats want to change that.”

The Kentucky Republican said the For the People Act would result in a national policy on election issues such as early voting, registration and no-excuse absentee balloting. He called the bill a “sweeping federal takeover” of state and local election procedures. Washington Times

Biden bombs Iranian proxies in Syria . . . The U.S. military carried out an airstrike against an Iranian-backed militia stronghold in Syria Thursday. Multiple facilities were struck in the air attack, which was sanctioned by President Biden. According to a senior US official, the strike was a defensive strategy, intended to halt and deter future rocket attacks by the militia group that recently hit Baghdad and Erbil. White House Dossier

Pentagon Calls out Russia as 'Existential' Threat . . . A top Pentagon commander has warned that Russia remains an enduring "existential" threat to the U.S. and its NATO allies. The commander of the U.S. European Command, Air Force General Tod D. Wolters said Wednesday that "Russia is employing unconventional tools such as private military companies to intimidate, weaken and divide U.S. allies and partners. He added that the US is now in "an era of global-power competition," one America must win to ensure "global power competition does not become a global power war."  Department of Defense

China’s Campaign to Crush Democracy in Hong Kong Is Working . . .  Just eight months after Beijing imposed a new national security law to quell a pro-democracy movement, this freewheeling former British colony has all but been brought to heel. Moving with a scope and speed few here anticipated, authorities have used the law to stamp out street protests, ban activists from lobbying foreign governments, gut the city’s legislature and arrest most of the opposition. Freewheeling former British colony almost brought to heel by new national security law used to quell street protests, ban foreign lobbying and gut the legislature. Beijing is signaling that this is just the start, outlining more institutional changes to ensure complete control over the city’s governance and eject opponents. Wall Street Journal

 

Biden corporate tax hike would cut 159K jobs and lower wages: Tax Foundation . . . President Biden's plan to increase the corporate tax rate would weaken economic recovery and hurt competitiveness, according to a report from the Tax Foundation.

Throughout the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden said that he planned to increase the corporate tax rate to 28%, a sharp rise from the current 21% set by former President Donald Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The report found that the increase would bring the United States's federal-state combined tax rate to roughly 32% — the highest statutory tax rate in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Such a tax hike would "reduce long-run economic output by 0.8 percent, eliminate 159,000 jobs, and reduce wages by 0.7 percent." Washington Examiner

 

Parliamentarian strikes minimum wage increase in coronavirus bill . . . The Senate parliamentarian on Thursday ruled against including a boost to the minimum wage in a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, arguing that it runs afoul of budget rules. The decision from the parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, is a significant blow to progressives, who viewed the plan to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour as one of their top priorities in the massive coronavirus relief plan. Because Democrats are trying to pass the coronavirus bill through reconciliation — a fast-track process that lets them bypass the 60-vote legislative filibuster — every provision has to comply with arcane budget rules. The Hill

 

Biden's transgender assistant HHS secretary nom won’t opine on kids choosing sex change . . .  Dr. Rachel Levine evades stating her views about whether children should have the option to undergo sex change operations, something HHS would no doubt have a role in. At her hearing on Thursday, Sen. Rand Paul wanted a simple comment on the matter. Frighteningly enough, he could not obtain it and was condemned by a U.S. senator for asking. “American culture is now normalizing the idea that minors can be given hormones to prevent their biological development of their secondary sexual characteristics,” Paul said. “Dr. Levine, do you believe that minors are capable of making such a life-changing decision as changing one’s sex?” Levine gave a 'no-response' response, which she repeated twice when pressed by Paul for a real answer. She went around in circles how “transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field with robust research and standards of care that have been developed,” evading Paul's simple question. White House Dossier

Senior citizen ‘Granfluencers’ are making it rain on Instagram . . .  They’re Instagrannies.

Shilling on social media is no longer just a young person’s game.

Web-savvy seniors called granfluencers are racking up thousands, even millions, of Instagram followers — along with mountains of money — by posting pics of themselves in scintillating outfits and other celeb-worthy snaps. “Been stealing your man since 1928,” reads the tag line for the Instagram page of 92-year-old Helen Ruth Elam of Knoxville, Kentucky — known as baddiewinkle on the platform. In lieu of the usual knit sweaters and drab white Skechers, this glamorous grandma rocks an arsenal of flamboyant feather boas, bombastic sunglasses and other couture too colorful for an Andy Warhol painting. First hitting the internet’s radar at the ripe old age of 85, the mother of one currently boasts 3.6 million Instagram followers and sponsorships that net her up to $9,815 per promo. New York Post