A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
Day 1337: "Absolute assurances."
Today in one sentence: Senate Republicans blocked legislation to federally protect access to in vitro fertilization; a sheriff in Ohio urged residents to “write down” the addresses of Harris supporters for future reference; aearly 100,000 people in Arizona may not be eligible to vote after officials discovered an error; Florida law enforcement officials will conduct their own criminal investigation into the man with a rifle at Trump’s golf course; Speaker Mike Johnson set up a vote on a six-month stopgap government funding plan that is expected to fail, because it’s linked to legislation requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote; and Harris leads Trump by a record-high 6 percentage points among likely voters.
1/ Senate Republicans blocked legislation to federally protect access to in vitro fertilization. The package, called the Right to IVF Act, would establish a nationwide right “to receive fertility treatment from a health care provider, in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based medical standards of care,” in addition to ensuring insurance coverage for such treatments. It’s the second time that Republicans, despite Trump’s statements supporting the fertility treatment, have filibustered the Democratic legislation. Kamala Harris said Republicans “have once again made clear that they will not protect access to the fertility treatments many couples need [and] their opposition to a woman’s freedom to make decisions about her own body is extreme, dangerous, and wrong.” (CBS News / CNN / Politico)
2/ A sheriff in Ohio urged residents to “write down” the addresses of Harris supporters for future reference. Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski suggested he’d use the list to send undocumented immigrants, who he called “human locust,” to those homes. Zuchowski is seeking reelection. It’s against federal law to intimidate voters into not casting their vote of their choice. (NBC News / Washington Post)
3/ Nearly 100,000 people in Arizona may not be eligible to vote after officials discovered an error that incorrectly marked these voters with having provided documented proof of citizenship when it’s unclear whether they have. After more than two decades, officials discovered that about 98,000 of the state’s 4.1 million registered voters – more registered as Republicans than as Democrats – had been marked as eligible to receive full ballots even though there is no record of them ever providing citizenship documents. Arizona requires proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in state and local elections. If voters do not provide proof of citizenship, they’re registered as what Arizona calls “federal only” voters, who can only vote for president and Congress. Meaning, the issue will not affect the upcoming vote for president or Arizona’s U.S. Senate seat. (Washington Post / Arizona Mirror)
4/ Florida law enforcement officials will conduct their own criminal investigation into the man with a rifle at Trump’s golf course. Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida prosecutors will pursue the most serious charges available under state law, including attempted murder. DeSantis also believes the state’s case should take precedence over the federal prosecution, saying “In my judgment it’s not in the best interest of our state or our nation to have the same federal agencies that are seeking to prosecute Donald Trump leading this investigation, especially when the most serious straight-forward offense constitutes a violation of state law, but not federal law.” (NPR / Associated Press)
5/ Speaker Mike Johnson set up a vote on a six-month stopgap government funding plan that is expected to fail, because it’s linked to legislation requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. A vote on the same package was abruptly delayed last week after Republicans vowed to tank the measure. While the measure has picked up little, if any support since Johnson pulled it last week, the House will vote on the bill Wednesday anyway. The move will allow Johnson to move on to a plan B, even though it’s unclear what that will be. Democrats and the White House want a clean, three-month stopgap bill, while Trump continues to demand that Republicans shut down the government if they “don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security,” even though noncitizen voting is already illegal. Congress is facing an Oct. 1 deadline to avoid a government shutdown. (Politico / Axios / NBC News / CNN)
poll/ Harris leads Trump by a record-high 6 percentage points among likely voters, 51% to 45%. Before the debate, Harris led Trump by 3 points. (Morning Consult)
poll/ 49% of registered voters say they’ll support Harris in November, compared to 44% who say they’ll support Trump. 48% say they will not vote for Harris, while 53% say they will not vote for Trump. (Monmouth University Poll)
poll/ 32% of Americans ages 18-34 feel nervous and scared about the upcoming election, 22% report feeling hopeful and optimistic, while 25% feel either dissatisfied and disappointed or bored and disinterested. (American University’s Sine Institute)
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📅 The WTFJHT Calendar: Now until then.
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🗳️ TODAY: First states start early voting.
💰 Sept. 30: Government funding deadline.
📺 Oct. 1: CBS vice presidential debate.
📆 Oct. 6: Last day to register to vote in some states.
⛔️ Oct. 14: Indigenous Peoples’ Day – No WTFJHT.
🗳️ Nov. 5: Election Day.
⚖️ Nov. 26: Trump is sentenced. -
✅ Get election ready: Register to vote, update your address, or request an absentee ballot at Vote.org, TurboVote.org, RocktheVote.org, or VoteFromAbroad.org.
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📈 Election Polling Tracker
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Harris +4.0 points (New York Times)
Harris +3.0 points (538)
Harris +2.9 points (Nate Silver)
Harris +4.5 points (The Economist)
Harris +2.0 points (RealClearPolitics)
Harris +7.2 points (Election Betting Odds) -
🔮 Election Forecast Tracker
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Harris wins 61 times out of 100. Trump wins 39 times out of 100. (538)
Trump wins 56 times out of 100. Harris wins 44 times out of 100. (Nate Silver)
Harris wins 60 times out of 100. Trump wins 40 times out of 100. (The Economist)
A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
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