Trump backs the GOP establishment

Former president Donald Trump helped out the GOP establishment with his latest round of congressional endorsements — including one particularly notable one where he passed over a guy he endorsed in the last election cycle.Just two years ago, Trump endorsed Darren Bailey for governor of Illinois, snubbing the state’s GOP establishment, which had been firmly behind Aurora mayor Richard Irvin. Bailey blew Irvin out of the water in the primary — thanks to additional support from Democrats who successfully meddled in the primary —and was dismantled by J.B. Pritzker in November.This time around, Trump is backing Congressman Mike Bost,…

Former president Donald Trump helped out the GOP establishment with his latest round of congressional endorsements — including one particularly notable one where he passed over a guy he endorsed in the last election cycle.

Just two years ago, Trump endorsed Darren Bailey for governor of Illinois, snubbing the state’s GOP establishment, which had been firmly behind Aurora mayor Richard Irvin. Bailey blew Irvin out of the water in the primary — thanks to additional support from Democrats who successfully meddled in the primary —and was dismantled by J.B. Pritzker in November.

This time around, Trump is backing Congressman Mike Bost, who’s been fending off a primary bid from Bailey. One Illinois GOP insider told me that Trump’s decision was likely swayed by Bailey’s “atrocious” fundraising. “Trump likes to win,” he said, adding that Bailey is “dead in the fucking water.” Assuming that Bost prevails, it will be a defeat for Matt Gaetz’s attempt to remake the House GOP in his image; he rallied for Bailey a few days ago.

For his part, Bailey railed against the establishment that he seemed to suggest Trump is part of. “Not every endorsement can be perfect,” he lamented. But Bost is a longtime Trump loyalist who had been seen parading around the state GOP convention before Trump was elected in a red MAGA hat.

Beyond backing Bost, Trump also sided with former speaker Kevin McCarthy, whom Trump would often refer to as “my Kevin,” in endorsing Assemblyman Vince Fong to succeed the California Republican.

Trump has long touted his successful Republican primary endorsement record — and he’ll notch another near-certain victory in North Carolina, where he backed the state’s powerful speaker of the House in his congressional bid. Tim Moore is running virtually unopposed for a chance to come to Washington in a district being vacated by Democratic congressman/TikTok sensation Jeff Jackson, who is now running for attorney general.

-Matthew Foldi

On our radar

AIDING AND ABETTING Texas attorney general Ken Paxton is suing the Annunciation House, a Catholic non-governmental organization that provides housing to illegal migrants. Paxton says the NGO is facilitating illegal immigration, harboring aliens and assisting with human smuggling.

ON THE SHORTLIST Former president Donald Trump confirmed during a Fox News town hall that Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Ron DeSantis, Byron Donalds, Kristi Noem and Tulsi Gabbard are all in the running to be his pick for vice president.

NEWSOM ON NOTICE A teacher is suing California governor Gavin Newsom, alleging that the state’s gender policy forced her to lie to parents about critical information regarding their children’s mental health.

Biden takes another stab at student debt forgiveness

The White House announced Wednesday it is forgiving more than $1billion in student debt for roughly 153,000 borrowers.

The relief comes after the Supreme Court overturned Biden’s more ambitious loan forgiveness plan. In accordance to the ruling, the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan is more narrowly tailored; it allows for those who borrowed less than $12,000 to have their debt forgiven after ten years of payments.

“This plan reflects our unapologetic commitment to deliver as much relief as possible to as many borrowers as possible, as quickly as possible,” education secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters on Tuesday.

Following the announcement, Senator Tom Cotton wrote on X, “There is no such thing as student loan ‘forgiveness.’ President Biden is simply transferring the debt to make you and your kids pay back student loans that you never took out.”

Senator Marsha Blackburn posited that Biden’s rejiggered plan is a way to “circumvent” the “Supreme Court’s authority.”

–Juan P. Villasmil

The New York fraud case’s poison pill

In Friday’s edition of the DC Diary, we brought you the breaking news that former president Donald Trump was being ordered to pay $355 million in a civil fraud case out of New York. Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump had inflated his real estate assets to fraudulently obtain bank loans. The ruling had several key issues, including that Engoron had by any objective measure drastically lowballed the value of Trump’s properties and that the banks — the supposed victims of this fraud — testified that they made money on their deals with Trump and had no complaints therein.

The ruling, however, appears to be even worse than originally conceived. Legal expert Jonathan Turley identified a so-called “poison pill” in Engoron’s judgment; in order for Trump to exercise his right to appeal the case, he has to post the full amount of the fine, including interest, in bond.

Turley explains just how extreme this is:

“Even for Trump, $455 million is hard to come by. Likewise, a bond would require a company to guarantee payment for a defendant who has been barred from doing business in New York and is facing the need to liquidate much of his portfolio.”

Is Judge Engoron intentionally making it impossible for Trump to appeal his decision? Lawfare indeed.

–Amber Duke