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| Good afternoon, OnPolitics readers! |
| Will we see a Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump rematch in 2024? Americans hope not. |
| While both men have indicated they plan to launch bids for second terms, voters are unenthusiastic about a replay of the 2020 contest. |
| In a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll, 65% of registered voters, including half of Democrats, don't want President Biden to run for another term. And 68% of voters, including a third of Republicans, don't want former President Trump to run again. |
| Among independent voters, the swing group in most elections, more than 7 in 10 are opposed to each of them running. |
| Searching for more options: Americans express overwhelming dissatisfaction with both major parties and broad support for a third party, an idea that has proven difficult to execute in the past. The weariness and wariness toward both Biden and Trump, even among a fair share of those who voted for them two years ago, could create openings for potential challengers. |
| It's Amy with today's top stories out of Washington. |
House Speaker Pelosi to visit Taiwan, reports say |
| House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will visit Taiwan in the coming days, according to multiple media reports, defying threats of Chinese retaliation to make the first such high-level visit in 25 years. |
| CNN and the Wall Street Journal reported that Pelosi will go ahead with the controversial trip, although the precise timing remains unclear. Pelosi's office declined to comment on those reports Monday. Some in Washington had expressed concerns that a visit by the sitting U.S. House speaker would provoke China into attacking the self-governed island. |
| China views Taiwan as part of its territory, while Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign country. The U.S. has long embraced a murky middle ground that seeks to support Taiwan without infuriating Beijing. |
| Chinese officials speak out: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying warned in a tweet Monday that "the U.S. government must honor its commitments in both word and in deed. Otherwise, the U.S. government must take responsibility and bear consequences for any act" that China sees as a violation of its agreements with the U.S. |
Real quick: stories you'll want to read |
| • | Man pleads guilty to Secret Service scheme: One of two men accused of posing as federal agents while duping Secret Service personnel into accepting prohibited gifts, including rent-free apartments, pleaded guilty Monday. | | • | Abortion rights face first of its kind test in Kansas: Kansas primary voters on Tuesday will be the first in the country to decide statewide on the right to abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, putting abortion access at risk in one of the few Midwestern states that allows the procedure. | | • | House passes bills on drought, wildfires: The House passed a sweeping drought and wildfire relief package Friday that authorizes funding for drought-relief efforts on the Colorado River, strengthens wildfire recovery efforts and upholds tribal water rights along the Arizona-California border. | | • | Arizona's upcoming secretary of state race: State Rep. Mark Finchem, the leading GOP candidate to be Arizona's next secretary of state, wants to ban electronic voting machines and force the state to use only paper ballots and count them by hand, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this year. | |
What to know about ban on firearms that passed in the House |
| The House narrowly passed a ban on firearms Friday in response to mass shootings this summer that claimed scores of victims and shook the nation. |
| The ban is likely to fail in the Senate where it would take at least 10 Republicans to join all 50 Democrats to overcome a filibuster. |
| It was the first such ban to pass the House in nearly 30 years. Congress enacted one as part of a sweeping anti-crime bill in 1994, but it expired in 2004. The bill passed 217-213 Friday along party lines – almost every Democrat in favor and almost every Republican against. |
| What's in the bill? The bill the House passed Friday would make it illegal for anyone to import, sell, manufacture, transfer or possess certain semi-automatic weapons. This wouldn't apply to semi-automatic weapons sold before the bill's passage. It would also make exceptions for shotguns, guns that have been rendered permanently inoperable, and antique firearms. |
| GOP says ban violates Second Amendment: Republicans criticized the bill, saying it would infringe on gun rights while doing little to prevent gun violence deaths. |
| They pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court decision (District of Columbia v. Heller) in 2008 that established that firearms in "common use" for lawful purposes such as self-defense are protected under the Second Amendment. They called the House bill unconstitutional, citing the popularity of weapons such as the AR-15 rifle and its use for self-defense. |
| President Biden continued to test positive for COVID-19 Monday as he deals with a rebound infection. For the latest on his health, read more here. -- Amy |
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