The Atlantic Politics & Policy Daily: The World’s Greatest Politics Newsletter of 2017

Today in 5 Lines

During a news conference on Capitol Hill, Speaker Paul Ryan defended House Republicans’ new health-care bill, saying he has “no doubt” the House will pass it, despite opposition from Democrats and conservative Republicans. (And if it doesn't pan out, Representative Pete Sessions is prepared with the "World’s Greatest Healthcare Plan of 2017.”) White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said President Trump is “very proud” of the new legislation and that Republicans are in “full sell mode all around the country.” Senators Lindsey Graham and Sheldon Whitehouse sent a letter to the Department of Justice requesting evidence of Trump’s claim that former President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower. Women across the country participated in “A Day Without a Woman,” a protest intended to draw attention to the role of women in society.

Today on The Atlantic

The Purge: Donald Trump boasts of his fierce loyalty both to staff and his supporters, but his inner circle has been reconstructed many times throughout his life and career. McKay Coppins unpacks the president’s willingness “to throw even the most dedicated allies under the bus at moments of peak crisis.”
A Lesson on Protests: Robinson Meyer spoke with historian L.A. Kauffman about her new book, Direct Action, and how Wednesday’s “Day Without a Woman” protest compares to other post-1960s actions. “This kind of strike is really something new,” Kauffman said. “It’s redefining the general strike without the sense of it being led by a labor movement.”
‘A Tale of Two Betsy DeVoses’: In Grand Rapids, Michigan, residents know the education secretary as pragmatic and generous. As a member of Donald Trump’s Cabinet, however, she’s been described as “unprepared” and “tone deaf.” How does her community reconcile the two? (Emily DeRuy)

The Atlantic is hosting a conference call for subscribers between David Frum, author of our March cover story, "How to Build an Autocracy," and Yoni Appelbaum, senior politics editor. On Friday, the two will go behind the story; analyze recent developments with the Trump presidency; and respond to readers' questions. Subscribe today to receive your invitation.

Snapshot

The "Fearless Girl" statue faces Wall Street's charging bull statue in New York. The statue was installed by investment firm State Street Global Advisors to highlight efforts to get more women on corporate boards. Mark Lennihan / AP

What We’re Reading

Feud: Donald and Barack: The Wall Street Journal reports that the relationship between President Trump and former President Obama is “unraveling” following Trump’s allegations that Obama ordered a wiretap on him. (Carol E. Lee and Peter Nicholas)

The CPAC of the Left: Democrats are planning their own version of the Conservative Political Action Conference, but “instead of featuring President Donald Trump, it’ll be the first real cattle call of the Democrats nosing around 2020 presidential runs.” They’re calling it the Ideas Conference. (Edward-Isaac Dovere, Politico)

‘The Adult in the Room’: Meet Gary Cohn, the 56-year-old director of the National Economic Council proving to be “a sage presence in a West Wing that's perceived as new and untested.” (Michael Warren, The Weekly Standard)

Raising Questions: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is facing resistance from White House aides, who are skeptical of his picks for roles in the department. The increased scrutiny, Bloomberg reports, is “fueling impatience” inside the department. (Robert Schmidt and Saleha Mohsin)

Journey to 11 Million: NPR chronicles changes in U.S. immigration policy over the years and the unintended consequences that followed as a result. (Robert Siegel and Selena Simmons-Duffin)

Visualized

The Day in Photos: Check out these photos to get a glimpse of the celebrations and demonstrations for International Women’s Day. (USA Today)

Question of the Week

This week, a Northern Virginia school district is shutting down for the day after a number of staff members asked for the day off to participate in “A Day Without a Woman,” a day of protest to highlight the contributions of women to society. A few weeks ago, a number of restaurants and fast-food chains closed down for “A Day Without Immigrants” to spotlight immigrant contributions to the United States. Fill in the blank with a group of people you think deserves to be commemorated, and tell us why: A Day Without ___ .

Send your answers to hello@theatlantic.com, and our favorites will be featured in Friday’s Politics & Policy Daily.

-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) and Candice Norwood (@cjnorwoodwrites)

About the Authors

Elaine Godfrey is an editorial fellow at The Atlantic.

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Candice Norwood is an editorial fellow at The Atlantic.

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There aren’t many institutions in Washington and beyond championing the president’s nationalistic policies. But there are plenty trying to pull his agenda in a more traditional Republican direction.

As Donald Trump jettisons his “America First” campaign promises at an accelerating pace, the populist nationalist political movement that roared into power with him is beginning to resemble a paper tiger.

Trump’s march to the GOP nomination last spring demonstrated there’s a substantial audience within the party’s rank and file—particularly among older and blue-collar Republicans—for the nationalist movement’s insular themes of resistance to trade, immigration, and foreign alliances, and embrace of government spending that benefits economically strained workers and retirees.

But Trump’s tumultuous first months in office have shown with equal clarity that such an agenda has extremely little institutional support inside the GOP beyond a constellation of sympathetic media outlets (like Breitbart News) and talk-radio and cable-television hosts (such as Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity). Lacking many champions in Congress, think tanks, conservative interest groups, or the business community, many of the movement’s most distinctive ideas—say, confronting China over trade or protecting the mostly white older population from budget cuts—have been rapidly losing ground to more conventional GOP interests and priorities.