First Draft on Politics: Another White House Shakeup

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Tuesday, August 1, 2017 [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [Anthony Scaramucci in the Oval Office just hours before his departure was revealed on Monday.]( Anthony Scaramucci in the Oval Office just hours before his departure was revealed on Monday. Doug Mills/The New York Times Good Tuesday morning, Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today: - John F. Kelly, the new chief of staff, told aides that he would impose military-style discipline on President Trump’s free-for-all West Wing. [His intent was underlined by the firing of Anthony Scaramucci]( the communications director, 10 days after he was hired. - Mr. Scaramucci was named communications director on July 21 and removed July 31. Here are [the highlights from the moments in between](. - Russia is preparing to send as many as 100,000 troops to the eastern edge of NATO territory at the end of the summer, [one of the biggest steps yet in the military buildup]( undertaken by President Vladimir V. Putin and an exercise in intimidation that recalls the most ominous days of the Cold War. - In the wake of Mr. Putin’s order that American diplomatic staff be slashed in Russia, [core functions like political and military analysis will be preserved]( along with espionage, experts said, while programs that involve cooperation are likely to be reduced or eliminated. — The First Draft Team HAVE A CONFIDENTIAL NEWS TIP? Do you have the next big story? Want to share it with The New York Times? We offer several ways to get in touch with and provide materials to our journalists. [Learn More »]( ADVERTISEMENT [Introducing ‘The New Washington’]( We’ll be interviewing the person in Washington you want to hear from each week for our new podcast series. Sidebar [On Justice Ginsburg’s Summer Docket: Blunt Talk on Big Cases]( By ADAM LIPTAK [Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court.]( Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court. J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the most outspoken member of the Supreme Court, sometimes to her regret. Last year, she issued [a statement]( saying that [her criticisms of Donald J. Trump]( during the presidential campaign had been ill advised. “In the future,” she said, “I will be more circumspect.” She has stayed true to her word, to a point, but she remains blunt and candid. In a pair of recent appearances, Justice Ginsburg critiqued the Trump administration’s travel ban, previewed the coming court term, predicted an end to capital punishment and suggested that the other branches of government are in disarray. Justice Ginsburg, 84, also described her grueling exercise routine, her link to a rap icon and her “graveyard” dissents. [Read more »](  [President Trump meeting with members of his cabinet at the White House on Monday.]( [John Kelly, Asserting Authority, Fires Anthony Scaramucci]( By MICHAEL D. SHEAR, GLENN THRUSH AND MAGGIE HABERMAN It remains to be seen if the new chief of staff will quell the chaos that has defined, distracted and often derailed President Trump’s White House. [Vice President Mike Pence speaking in Tallinn, Estonia, with the leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania behind him. He told the Baltic leaders that “we are with you.”]( [Embassy Reductions Won’t Deter U.S., Pence Says]( By MICHAEL D. SHEAR During a trip to Eastern Europe, the vice president responded aggressively to Russia’s retaliation for sanctions legislation. President Trump remained silent. [New C.D.C. guidelines on opioids like Percocet are likely to have sweeping effects on the practice of medicine.]( [White House Panel Recommends Declaring National Emergency on Opioids]( By ABBY GOODNOUGH President Trump’s commission to assess the epidemic wrote to him that a declaration would allow the federal government to “take bold steps.” [The V.C. Summer nuclear project near Jenkinsville, S.C. The owners, Santee Cooper and South Carolina Gas & Electric, announced Monday that they were abandoning two unfinished nuclear reactors rather than than saddle customers with additional costs.

]( [U.S. Nuclear Comeback Stalls as Two Reactors Are Abandoned]( By BRAD PLUMER Two South Carolina utilities said they would halt construction on a pair of reactors, dealing a major blow to the future of American nuclear power. [Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, at a budget meeting last week. He spoke about tax reform at an event Monday that was hosted by Americans for Prosperity, a political network funded by the Koch brothers.]( [Moving Past Health Care, White House Looks to Tax Reform]( By JEREMY W. PETERS AND ALAN RAPPEPORT The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress cannot afford another political failure. And outside groups are working to remind them of that. [President Trump giving the Medal of Honor to James C. McCloughan, 71, in the East Room of the White House on Monday. Mr. McCloughan is credited with saving the lives of 10 men over two days in Vietnam.]( [Medal of Honor Goes to Vietnam Medic Who Ran Through ‘Hell on Earth’]( By NICHOLAS FANDOS James C. McCloughan, credited with saving the lives of 10 men over a two-day battle, was awarded the nation’s highest military decoration 48 years on. [The White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Friday.]( [Divorce Report Capped Scaramucci’s First Week. There Was No Second Week.]( By KATIE ROGERS News that the White House communications director and his wife were breaking up kept intrigue swirling. [The 2003 funeral of a doctor who died of SARS infection in Hong Kong during the pandemic. Only six countries have taken steps to evaluate their abilities to withstand a global pandemic, according to a report sponsored by the World Bank.]( Global Health [Only Six Nations Have Evaluated Readiness for Global Pandemic]( By DONALD G. MCNEIL JR. A World Bank-sponsored study found that wealthy countries Finland, Saudi Arabia and the United States and poor nations Eritrea, Pakistan and Tanzania had gone through assessments. Right and Left: Partisan Writing You Shouldn’t Miss Read about how the other side thinks. We have collected political writing from around the web and across ideologies. From the Right • [Paul R. Pillar]( in [The National Interest]( “The bill is consistent with, and puts in stark relief, a larger problem of Congress habitually using economic sanctions against foreign states as an expression of disapproval that is poorly designed to achieve any U.S. foreign policy objectives.” Mr. Pillar argues that the real purpose of sanctions is to allow politicians to pander to domestic constituencies against unpopular foreign entities. Bills including the most recent [sanctionsÂ]( against Russia, North Korea and Iran are carelessly assembled and, he writes, “collide immediately with economic interests of U.S. allies in Europe.” [Read more »]( _____ From the Left • [Joshua Yaffa]( in [The New Yorker]( “Putin has not yet given up on Trump entirely. The goal of this latest move is not to break with Trump or to forswear working with him.” Mr. Yaffa proposes that the response of the Russian president need not be interpreted as an escalation in hostilities between the two countries. Instead, he writes, perhaps it is possible to read Mr. Putin’s decision to expel American diplomats from his country as “both a warning and an opening” for President Trump. [Read more »]( _____ [More selections »]( ADVERTISEMENT HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [washington-newsletter@nytimes.com](mailto:washington-newsletter@nytimes.com?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback). FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@NYTPolitics]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »](  | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $0.99. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's First Draft newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018