2024-05-23T23:29:33.614Z

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In today’s edition … Biden unlikely to face protesters at U.S. Military Academy … Biden’s “red line” in Rafah still hasn’t been crossed … but first …

Why Jared Polis criticized Biden’s China tariffs

Four questions for … Colorado Gov. Jared Polis: Polis, a Democrat in his second term, suffered a defeat last year when legislation he supported to make it easier to build housing in the state died in the state legislature even though it was controlled by Democrats.

Lawmakers were more successful this year, passing housing bills and other legislation this month that Polis signed into law. We discussed the bills, as well as his recent criticism of new tariffs on China that President Biden debuted last week.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Can you briefly explain some of the bills you’ve signed in recent days and the impact they’ll have on the state?

One of the big challenges Coloradans face is the high cost of housing. We need more opportunities to live close to job centers. We passed a constellation of bills that I signed that get us closer, from eliminating [minimum] parking requirements above and beyond what people want that are imposed by the government, to allowing for multifamily zoning near transit, to empowering people to build accessory dwelling units in their own backyards.

Also, [the] largest tax cut in Colorado history: We cut property taxes by about $1.3 billion. We also cut the income tax from 4.4 percent to 4.25 percent, and we put in a mechanism where the sales tax will be reduced in future years as long as we continue to have a strong economy.

How far should state lawmakers and governors go to block local communities from implementing restrictions on development that drive up the cost of housing?

The cost of housing has become a matter of statewide concern. No matter where you are in our state — Pueblo, Grand Junction, Denver — young families [and] people of all ages say: “I can’t afford a home. I can’t afford to live here.” That’s what our legislators hear. That’s what I hear as governor. It’s not so much about who acts. We also are very supportive of actions at the local level, the county level, of course. But the state needs to act.

How much will this legislation bring down housing costs in Colorado? Or will it just stop them from rising as quickly?

Housing [still] needs to be built. It doesn’t materialize. But we had all these artificial constraints on supply. Even projects that could be financed — that there was a market for — couldn’t be built because of permitting. Or they would get hung up for years. So we really looked at all the drivers of that — by eliminating government-imposed parking requirements, as an example. Parking is estimated to add about $30,000 per space to the cost [of building an apartment building]. [If] a family of four wants one parking space and previously they had been forced to have two, that reduces it by $30,000.

You described Biden’s new tariffs on China last week as “horrible news for American consumers and a major setback for clean energy.” Why are they a bad idea?

Tariffs in general drive costs and drive inflation for consumers. We estimate that over 90 percent of solar panels in Colorado have components that are made in China. If we are reducing our ability to get the solar panels we need to power our clean energy economy, everybody winds up paying more for electricity through their utility, and it slows the clean energy transition.

The electric-vehicle [tariffs] don’t concern me economically. I’m not for them. But in practice, there’s not really very many EVs that China supplies to us, [while] they are the major supplier of solar components to our country.

Of course, we know that Donald Trump would be even worse. His response was to double down and say, “I want even more tariffs,” which would be even worse for consumers and worse for the clean energy transition.

White House Notebook

Biden unlikely to face protesters at U.S. Military Academy

White House reporter Tyler Pager files this week’s notebook:

President Biden is likely to survive college graduation season unscathed.

College commencement season had produced some anxiety among Biden allies that he would face constant interruptions. As protests over the Israel-Gaza war swept college campuses in recent months, he stayed mostly in tightly controlled environments and away from large student gatherings. Students have been some of Biden’s most vocal critics, calling on him to support a cease-fire in Gaza and end the supply of weapons to Israel.

But after avoiding any major interruptions at Morehouse College last weekend — some students silently protested by turning their backs when Biden spoke — the president is headed to the U.S. Military Academy, where student-led protests would be considered a major breach of conduct. Members of the military are prohibited from actively participating in partisan public demonstrations.

Biden, who has staunchly supported Israel since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, has reiterated his support for Americans’ ability to protest, while condemning antisemitic and Islamophobic behavior.

“I support peaceful, nonviolent protest,” Biden said at Morehouse. “Your voices should be heard, and I promise you I hear them.”

You can follow all of Tyler’s work here and follow him on Twitter here.

What we’re watching

On the campaign trail

Trump is set to speak tomorrow at the Libertarian Party convention in D.C. We’re watching how much blowback he gets from Libertarians frustrated that he was invited to speak.

Trump is seeking to persuade Libertarians to support him over the Libertarian nominee or independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is set to address the convention today.

“If Libertarians join me and the Republican Party, where we have many Libertarian views, the election won’t even be close,” Trump said in a statement when he accepted the invitation to speak at the convention.

We’re also watching what Trump says about Kennedy — and what Kennedy says about Trump. (Kennedy unsuccessfully challenged Trump to debate him at the convention.)

Kennedy has pulled significant support from Trump and Biden in polls, allowing him to play a potentially crucial role in states where he’s on the ballot.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday that excluded Kennedy found Biden leading Trump among registered voters, 48 percent to 47 percent. When Kennedy, independent candidate Cornel West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein were included, Biden led Trump 41 percent to 38 percent, with Kennedy at 14 percent.

On the Hill

House and Senate lawmakers have left Washington for the Memorial Day recess. Both chambers will return Monday, June 3.

At the White House

Biden’s “red line” in Rafah still hasn’t been crossed

The Biden administration says Israel’s military operation in Rafah does not cross the “red line” that President Biden warned an invasion of the city would constitute, our colleagues Karen DeYoung, John Hudson and Missy Ryan report.

Earlier this month, Biden told CNN that if Israeli forces “go into Rafah,” the United States would not provide weapons to support the offensive. Subsequent statements from the Biden administration stressed that the United States would not support a “major military operation” in Rafah out of concern for civilian safety.

Now, Israel is in Rafah, but the White House says Israeli forces aren’t involved in a “major” campaign that would cause the U.S. to pull support.

Suze van Meegen, head of operations in Gaza for the Norwegian Refugee Council, disagreed with the White House’s assessment, saying part of the city has become “an archetypal war zone,” while the other parts are a “ghost town” and “a congested mass of people living in deplorable conditions.”

Israeli’s actions have severely limited aid delivery in the area, and critics, such as Ciarán Donnelly, a senior official at the International Rescue Committee, say Israel isn't adequately ensuring care for civilians in Rafah or those who have fled the city.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States is working with Israel and other international partners to alleviate the United States’ “great concerns about the ability to get them food, water, medicine, humanitarian assistance, shelter, sanitation.”

ICYMI

Leigh Ann spoke with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) on Washington Post Live. Here are some of the highlights:

Watch the entire interview here.

The Media

Must reads

From The Post:

From across the web:

Viral

This does not sound like fun

We work remotely from Chuck E. Cheese — our 9-to-5s should be fun, too https://t.co/BbfH5b9FMJ pic.twitter.com/joEFf9LLS1

— New York Post (@nypost) May 23, 2024

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