Principals

1. Ryan Routh’s Hill contacts
2. Congress responds to attempt on Trump
3. DOJ to overhaul bank deal reviews
4. Boeing’s tough finances
5. Georgia abortion ban
6. TikTok’s uncertain fate
7. Teamsters weighs endorsement

PDB: Trade group fighting anti-“junk fee” car rule hosts auto dealers in DC

Harris campaigns in Philadelphia, Trump in Michigan … Scientific American supports Harris in second-ever presidential endorsement … Israel now says stopping Hezbollah attacks is a war goal

Suspect in Trump assassination plot touted Capitol Hill outreach

Ryan Routh, the man who was charged with gun crimes in connection with an attempt to assassinate Donald Trump, told Semafor in an interview last year he blanketed congressional offices to enlist support for his plans to aid Ukraine. Routh claimed that he visited 200 House offices in one day to boost his proposal for using foreign soldiers to help Ukraine’s war effort, Semafor’s Kadia Goba and Joseph Zeballos-Roig report. He named the offices of Reps. Barry Moore, R-Ala., and Seth Moulton, D-Mass., but both said any interaction was not meaningful (and one person familiar with Routh’s drop-in to Moulton’s office characterized him as “kooky”). Federal officials revealed that Routh may have been waiting for nearly 12 hours at the Florida golf course, but the Secret Service said he did not have a line of sight to Trump. President Biden, who called Trump on Monday, said the Secret Service “needs more help.”

Secret Service feels bipartisan heat

Republicans and Democrats are making clear they are not happy with the Secret Service’s protection protocols surrounding former President Donald Trump, even as lawmakers prepare to send more resources to the agency as soon as this month, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports. “They’re obviously not doing the job they ought to be doing,” Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, told Semafor, concluding the organization “failed twice” during the two attempted assassinations of Trump. “Slipshod,” is how Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, assessed the agency’s protection during the attempted shooting of Trump in July: “They’ve got serious problems.” Despite the ire from both parties, Congress might act quickly to ensure the organization has what it needs before the election. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says the Secret Service could get more money as soon as this month’s spending deal.

Top US antitrust cop says DOJ will overhaul how it reviews bank deals

The US Justice Department will fundamentally overhaul its reviews of bank deals and other mergers involving financial-services firms, the agency’s top antitrust cop said at a Semafor event on Monday, Liz Hoffman and Rachyl Jones report. The new rules would replace the DOJ’s existing guidelines, which focus on branch overlap and deposits when deciding whether two banks can merge. DOJ antitrust chief Jonathan Kanter said a formal announcement is coming “very soon,” but the department has already been doing this informally. “Our analysis has to focus on market realities,” he said. “This isn’t about being ‘pro’ something or ‘anti’ something else. It’s more about calling it as we see it in the market.” The DOJ’s guidelines for regulating bank mergers haven’t been updated since 1995. The new rules could be announced as soon as today, a person familiar with the matter said.

Boeing grapples with impact of strike

The strike at Boeing is already inflicting financial pain on the company. The company, a major defense contractor, announced that it will freeze hiring, pause pay increases, and stop most orders for 737, 767, and 777 jetliners, while considering temporary furloughs. “Our business is in a difficult period,” Boeing chief financial officer Brian West said in a message to employees. “This strike jeopardizes our recovery in a significant way and we must take necessary actions to preserve cash and safeguard our shared future.” The White House said administration officials are keeping in touch with Boeing and the machinists. “We encourage them to negotiate in good faith — toward an agreement that gives employees the benefits they deserve and makes the company stronger,” White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson told Semafor. Negotiations are resuming this week but the history of labor relations at the company could foretell a long strike, CNN notes.

— Morgan Chalfant

Thurs, Sept 19 | Washington, D.C. | RSVP

Join us this Thursday for discussions exploring the financial boom shaping the US sports gaming industry, and the critical policy challenges that come with it. As Congress considers federal rules around online sports betting, industry leaders will join Semafor on stage:

• Rep. Dina Titus (D) Nevada will offer unique insights into the role the gaming industry could play in the 2024 presidential race.
• Mark Ein, Washington Commanders will explore how sports betting is reshaping fan engagement.
• Lori Kalani, Chief Responsible Gaming Officer, DraftKings, will address rising concerns over gambling addiction, particularly among young people.
• Melonie Johnson, President of MGM National Harbor, will discuss ensuring fairness as gaming continues to expand.

RSVP for in-person or livestream here.

Harris responds to report on Georgia abortion ban

Kamala Harris and other Democrats are reacting to a ProPublica report of a woman who died because she couldn’t access timely abortion care, according to Georgia’s maternal mortality review committee. Amber Nicole Thurman, 28, required a routine procedure in 2022 after complications related to taking an abortion pill but was delayed treatment following the state’s six-week abortion ban. Experts found Thurman’s death was “preventable” and caused in large part by the hospital’s delay. “This young mother should be alive, raising her son, and pursuing her dream of attending nursing school,” Harris said in a statement. Some Georgia Democrats also took to social media to bring awareness to what has become a top election issue. “It could happen to any woman or family in Georgia,” Rep. Hank Johnson posted on X. Rep. Nikema Williams posted a link to the article in her Instagram story.

— Kadia Goba

TikTok fights a possible ban in court

TikTok’s fate is uncertain after the company battled with the Justice Department over a law that would force a sale of the popular video app by its Chinese owners or ban it in the US. A panel of judges asked tough questions of the social media app as the two sides delivered oral arguments in a DC court. TikTok and a group of content creators argue the law violates the First Amendment, while the Justice Department says China could use the app to spread propaganda or spy on Americans. One of the judges suggested there was precedent for the law, asking: “Why is this any different, from a constitutional point of view, than the statute precluding foreign ownership of a broadcasting license?” ByteDance faces a Jan. 19 deadline to sell the app, but the company could seek a stay at the Supreme Court if it loses at the appellate level.

Who will get the Teamsters endorsement?

The Teamsters union is nearing a decision on an endorsement in the US presidential race. Teamsters president Sean O’Brien said the union would “look at any and all options, and I can’t commit to what we’re going to do” following a reportedly tense roundtable with Kamala Harris. with Kamala Harris. An endorsement could come as soon as Wednesday. While the union has been reliably pro-Democrat in the past, O’Brien has courted both Democrats and Republicans and spoke at the Republican National Convention in July. However, he did sharply criticize Donald Trump for comments he made later to Elon Musk about firing striking workers. O’Brien described the union’s uncommitted stance as “necessary because we need to make sure we make the right decisions” given the union’s members, many of whom are attracted to the more populist policies of Trump and JD Vance.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: The acting Secret Service director told the House task force investigating the first attempted assassination of Donald Trump that the agency’s strained budget and staffing levels are a huge problem during a meeting last week, and a similar message was relayed during briefings to Congress yesterday.

Playbook: Democrats are worried that a Republican House victory could give Speaker Mike Johnson the power to impede the election certification process if Kamala Harris wins. A Johnson aide dismissed the concerns as a fundraising ploy and “part of an alarmist narrative that helped lead to the two assassination attempts targeting Trump.”

WaPo: A handful of Republicans in tight congressional races are expressing their support for IVF or opposition to a national abortion ban in campaign ads. “Last cycle was the Republican conventional wisdom that you don’t talk about it in paid advertising,” one GOP strategist said. “The party may not have fully understood the electoral impact.”

Axios: Young Americans are most likely to describe their feelings about the election as “nervous” and “scared,” according to a new poll from American University.

White House

• President Biden will receive a briefing on the response to wildfires and will meet with World Bank President Ajay Banga today.
• Vice President Harris will sit down for an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists while in Philadelphia.

Congress

• Tit for Tat: Senate Republicans are expected to block an IVF bill today after Democrats jammed a GOP bill meant to help families save on medical expenses, including IVF treatments.
• Speaker Mike Johnson will join a fireside chat with former Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow hosted by the America First Policy Institute this afternoon. Johnson is expected to argue for extending the Trump tax cuts and list preserving the standard deduction and a “strong” child tax credit as key priorities in a Republican victory. “We can promote investment and opportunity,” Johnson will say in remarks previewed to Semafor.
• Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse, and John Hickenlooper wrote to Fed Chair Jerome Powell urging the central bank to cut interest rates by 75 basis points later this week. — Bloomberg

Outside the Beltway

• New York Mayor Eric Adams is under increasing pressure to fire longtime aide and friend Tim Pearson amid a growing corruption scandal.

Economy

• The US economy could be in a “really good place” in 6-12 months if the “right choices are made,” White House National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard said at a Council on Foreign Relations event. She noted that housing affordability is the biggest challenge and urged Congress to pass legislation to address it, such as low-income housing credits.
• US officials are traveling to Beijing this week for talks to underscore the Biden administration’s concerns over cheap Chinese goods that have been flooding global markets. — WSJ
• The latest data on retail sales will be released this morning.

Business

• The National Automobile Dealers Association is hosting hundreds of franchised new-car dealers and state and local association executives in DC this week for its 2024 Washington conference. According to details shared first with Semafor, the group — which will discuss policy issues such as the FTC’s CARS rule to prohibit so-called “junk fees” in the car-buying process that the association opposes — will meet with Speaker Mike Johnson and Sens. John Thune and Patty Murray. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers will speak to the group tomorrow.
• Amazon wants its employees to return to the office full time.

Polls

• Kamala Harris narrowly leads Donald Trump in the battleground state of Pennsylvania as well as two of its bellwether counties, according to three polls by USA Today/Suffolk University. Harris leads Trump 49% to 46% statewide. In East Pennsylvania’s Northampton County, Harris leads Trump 50% to 45%, and 48% to 44% in Erie County in the state’s northwest, the poll showed.

On the Trail

• Kamala Harris is attending a fundraiser in Manhattan later this month for which tickets are selling for as much as $1 million.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is investigating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his handling of a dead whale carcass two decades ago.
• “I really believe that the rhetoric from the Democrats ... is making the bullets fly,” Donald Trump said in an interview with The Washington Post.

National Security

• The US military said it completed its withdrawal from Niger over the weekend.

Energy

• BP is selling its US onshore wind energy business.

Foreign Policy

• Biden envoy Amos Hochstein warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against starting a wider war in Lebanon during a trip to the region. — Axios
• The number of Ukrainians and Russians killed in the two-and-a-half-year war has reached around 1 million. — WSJ
• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signaled a readiness to resume nuclear talks with Western nations and denied sending ballistic missiles to Russia.

Technology

• Intel will separate its chip-manufacturing and design operations further, pause factory construction in Europe and Asia, and cut the number of its offices. Meanwhile, its foundry business will make artificial intelligence for Amazon’s cloud-computing business in a multibillion-dollar deal, and the Biden administration awarded Intel up to $3 billion to build manufacturing for the defense industry.
• Meta said it would ban RT.

Media

• Vivek Ramaswamy is getting a show on FOX Nation.

Blindspot

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Major US steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs is considering abandoning plans to produce more environmentally friendly steel — and losing a $500 million grant from the Biden administration by doing so.

What the Right isn’t reading: The White House condemned Elon Musk for writing in a since-deleted post that “no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala” in response to another X post about the latest attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Elana Schor, Morgan Chalfant

Reporters: Burgess Everett, Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Josh Hawley is a Republican senator from Missouri.

• Trump and Harris have the same oil problem.
• New York Times’ tech staff threatens strike during Election Day crunch.
• Kamala Harris and Hakeem Jeffries: The duo who could run Washington.