Today’s Agenda: Two Things To Watch

By Kate Riga, John Light and Caitlin MacNeal

May 8, 2019 8:25 a.m.

Happy Wednesday, May 8. The fight between the administration and House Democrats for President Donald Trump’s tax returns rages on while the President stews over the New York Times’ revelation of his huge business losses in the 80s and 90s. Here’s more on that and the other stories we’re following.

Two Things We’re Watching Today

Still waiting for more on Trump’s tax returns

We’ve yet to see the Justice Department’s written explanation for the administration’s rejection of the House Ways and Means Committee request for Trump’s tax returns. And the committee has yet to signal its next move. We’ll be on the lookout for new developments on that front today. In a related news break, the New York Times did obtain Trump’s returns for years between 1985 and 1994, during which time he suffered over $1 billion in business losses.

House committee votes on contempt for Barr

The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on whether to hold Attorney General Bill Barr in contempt over his refusal to release an unredacted version of the Mueller report to Congress. The Justice Department and committee held negotiations on the matter yesterday, but Democrats on the committee are pushing ahead with the vote anyway. We’ll be watching that.

Today’s Rundown

9:30 a.m. ET Senate gavels in.

10:00 a.m. ET House gavels in.

10:00 a.m. ET House Judiciary Committee marks up a resolution to hold Attorney Barr in contempt.

11:30 a.m. ET President Trump holds a Cabinet meeting, including a pool spray — which, in the past, has sometimes amounted to a televised Cabinet meeting.

5:15 p.m. ET Trump tours areas affected by Hurricane Michael in the Florida panhandle.

7:00 p.m. ET Trump holds a rally in Panama City Beach, Florida.

Yesterday’s Top Story

READ: White House Tells McGahn Not To Comply With Congressional Subpoena, by Tierney Sneed

Reading List

Kamala Harris blows past Democratic rivals in fundraising in communities of color — Jonathan Allen, Lauren Egan and Jeremia Kimelman, NBC News

E.P.A. Leaders Disregarded Agency’s Experts in Issuing Asbestos Rule, Memos Show — Lisa Friedman, New York Times

Exclusive: China backtracked on nearly all aspects of U.S. trade deal — David Lawder, Jeff Mason, Michael Martina, Reuters

ABC, NBC, and MSNBC prime-time shows ignored landmark UN report on biodiversity — Ted MacDonald, Media Matters

Kate Riga (@Kate_Riga24) Kate Riga is a news writer for Talking Points Memo based in New York City. Before joining TPM, Kate was the political reporter for The Southampton Press. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and a native of Philadelphia.

John Light (@LightTweeting) John is TPM's editor for Prime & Special Projects. His work has also appeared at The Atlantic, Reuters, Mother Jones, Salon, Slate, UN Dispatch, Vox, Worth, City & State and Al Jazeera, and has been broadcast on Public Radio International. Before joining TPM, John was a producer for Bill Moyers and WNYC, and worked as a news writer for Grist. He grew up in New Jersey, studied history and film at Oberlin College, and got his master‘s degree in journalism from Columbia University.

Caitlin MacNeal (@caitlinmacneal) Caitlin MacNeal is an assistant editor based in Washington, D.C. Before joining TPM, Caitlin interned and wrote for the Huffington Post, the Sunlight Foundation and Slate. She is a graduate of Georgetown University.

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