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Local News Highlights: Daily Briefing

Morning must reads for Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Good Tuesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 157th day of the year. There are 208 days remaining in 2017. Today is the 138th day of Donald Trump's presidency.

New Utah GOP Chair Rob Anderson says the party may end their fight against SB54 in the fall. Rep. Jason Chaffetz says government leakers should be in jail. Senate Republicans hope to vote on the Obamacare repeal before July.

The clock:

• 11 days until the Utah Republican 3rd District nominating convention at Timpview High School (6/17/2017).

• 11 days until the Utah Democratic State Convention at Weber State University (6/17/2017)

• 70 days until the 2017 Utah primary election (8/15/2017)

• 154 days until the 2017 election (11/7/2017)

• 230 days until the opening day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (1/22/2018)

• 275 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)

• 518 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)

• 1,246 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Today's political TL; DR -

• SCOOP #1: New Utah GOP Chair Rob Anderson says turnover on the State Central Committee could lead to Republicans dropping their lawsuit against SB54, which has nearly bankrupted the party [Utah Policy].
  
  
• SCOOP #2: Some Republican heavy-hitters, including Gov. Gary Herbert, are ready to start fundraising to help dig the Utah GOP out of their financial hole [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Sens. Deidre Henderson and Margaret Dayton, who are two of the frontrunners in the race to win the delegate nomination in Utah's 3rd Congressional District, say they would strive to be independent of President Donald Trump if they win a seat in Congress. However, both women struggled to name specific Trump policy proposals with which they disagreed [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Rep. Jason Chaffetz once again says individuals who leak sensitive information to the press should be put "behind bars" [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Sen. Mike Lee says President Donald Trump put "people first" when he withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement [Utah Policy].
  
  
• 3rd District Republican candidate Tanner Ainge submits signatures to secure a place on the August primary ballot in the race to replace Rep. Jason Chaffetz [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Greg Sheehan, Wildlife Director for the Utah Department of Natural Resources, has been tapped by the Trump administration to serve as Deputy Director of Fish and Wildlife Resources [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
  
  
• Salt Lake County Recorder Gary Ott, who is rumored to be suffering from diminished capacity, gives a bizarre interview while standing on the side of a road in Ogden [Tribune].
  
  
• Rep. Jason Chaffetz appears on the "Fox and Friends" TV show in what could be an audition for a rumored new gig with the network [Deseret News].
  
  
• Republican Chia-Chi Teng drops his lawsuit against the state because he was prevented from filing to run in Utah's 3rd District remotely [Deseret News, Tribune].
  
  
• House Speaker Greg Hughes did not fully disclose all of his business holdings in his financial disclosure form [Tribune].
  
  
• Rob Miller, whose candidacy for Utah Democratic Party Chair has been rocked by allegations of sexual misconduct, says he would have a difficult time leading the party now. However, he's not yet ready to drop his leadership bid [Tribune].
  
  
• The Utah Transit Authority says they don't have enough money to relocate the TRAX station at the Salt Lake City International Airport [Tribune].
  
  

National headlines:

• Former Vice President Joe Biden will get a headlining spot at Mitt Romney's annual political summit in Park City this summer [Associated Press].
  
  
• The Senate GOP is pushing to vote on their version of the Obamacare repeal bill before the July 4 recess [Politico].
  
  
• A Russian cyber attack on U.S. voting software suppliers may have penetrated further into U.S. voting systems than previously thought [The Intercept]. A contractor for the NSA who allegedly provided the document to the website was arrested over the weekend [Washington Post].
  
  
• Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he has been told by President Donald Trump to make rebuilding ties with Russia a top priority [Reuters].
  
  
• The White House says they will not move to block former FBI Director James Comey's testimony in front of Congress later this week [Wall Street Journal].
  
  
• London Mayor Sadiq Khan says the British government should cancel President Donald Trump's state visit following his response to the London Bridge terrorist attack [The Guardian].
  
  
• President Donald Trump is reportedly souring on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, blaming him for all manner of scandals that have damaged his agenda [New York Times].
  
  
• The top U.S. diplomat in China has resigned his post in protest of President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement [Bloomberg].

On this day in history:

• 1934 - The Securities and Exchange Commission was established.
  
  
• 1944 - Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, in the D-Day invasion of Europe during World War II.
  
  
• 1966 - Black activist James Meredith was shot and wounded as he walked along a Mississippi highway to encourage black voter registration.
  
  
• 1985 - Authorities in Brazil exhumed a body later identified as that of Dr. Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor who conducted medical experiments on inmates at Auschwitz during World War II.
  
  
• 2011 - After days of denials, Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., confessed that he had tweeted a lewd photo of himself to a woman and admitted to "inappropriate" exchanges with six women.

Today At Utah Policy

Republican Central Committee turnover could be key to ending anti-SB54 lawsuits By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor A lot of Utah Republican Party insiders are wondering how newly-elected state party chairman Rob Anderson will go about bringing Utah’s majority party back on solid ground, both fiscally and politically....

Prominent Utah Republicans set to help bail the party out of financial distress By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor Utah Republican big shots, including GOP Gov. Gary Herbert, are being lined up to hold fundraisers for the financially beleaguered party, new party chair Rob Anderson tells UtahPolicy....

Two leading GOP candidates declare independence from President Trump, but struggle to name any of his policies they disagree with By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor The 13 Republicans vying to win the delegate nod at the June 17th nominating convention in Utah's 3rd District are in a tough situation....

Chaffetz: I want leakers 'in handcuffs' By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Rep. Jason Chaffetz once again said individuals who leak classified information to the press should be put in jail....

Lee says Trump put people first when he nixed Paris climate agreement (with video) By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Sen. Mike Lee says President Trump made the right decision, putting people first when he decided to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord....

Press release: Tanner Ainge submits signatures to Lt. Governor's Office to qualify for August primary election By Press Release Tanner Ainge, a candidate for Congress in Utah's Third Congressional District, achieved a major campaign milestone by being the first to collect signatures from registered Republicans in each of the seven counties in the District (Carbon, Emery, Grand, San Juan, Salt Lake, U...

Utah official tapped to lead federal Fish and Wildlife Service By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has named Greg Sheehan, currently the Wildlife Director for the Utah Department of Natural Resources, to take over the newly-created position of Fish and Wildlife Services deputy director....

Policy News

Peter Reichard appointed President of Utah Foundation The Utah Foundation Board of Trustees has appointed Peter Reichard as the organization’s new president. Reichard will take over from long-time President Steve Kroes on July 1, 2017....

Five EDCUtah investors recognized for programs that are living in the future Congratulations to our partners South Salt Lake City, Utah Clean Energy, Rocky Mountain Power, Salt Lake Community College, and The Utah Aerospace Pathways program....

Metro Solutions: A framework for regional growth, prosperity & inclusion Mayor Ben McAdams invites you to Metro Solutions. The event will feature speakers in the community and will highlight the Global Trade and Investment Plan as well as the path for regional economic development....

USTAR grant program addressing Utah water/air challenges opens The Energy Research Triangle (ERT) program is now accepting applications focused on finding rapid solutions to air and water challenges facing the energy industry....

Wise Words

Foreign Influence
"Foreign influence is truly the Grecian horse to a republic. We cannot be too careful to exclude its influence." Alexander Hamilton

Lighter Side

Sad
"That's right, Trump met with the Pope. Though it got weird when Trump was like, "Jesus only had 12 followers? Sad. His tweets must've been terrible!" Jimmy Fallon