Josh Hawley is ruffling GOP feathers as he stakes out his ground: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of Of the policy desktopA bulletin that gives you the latest report and analysis of the NBC News Politics Team of the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign.

In today’s edition, we have a depth of immersion in the effort of Senator Josh Hawley to rethink the terrain for himself in the modern Republican party. In addition, Adam Novoa broken down how the renewed campaign of President Donald Trump against the vote by mail is crossed with the districts redistribution fight.

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Josh Hawley Iks Republicans while trying to forge a lane

By Allan Smith, Julie Tsirkin and Matt Dixon

Since he assumed the position in 2019, Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Mo., has tried to place himself in the first line of guiding the Republican party around a mixture of economic populism and social conservatism to attract a working class base more and more.

But now, with Republicans in full control of Congress for the first time since he arrived in Washington, Hawley’s mission is conflicting with the members of his party, who are frustrated with his tendency to follow the rhythm of his own drum as he grows more critical with some of his political objectives.

Republicans, both in Congress and in the White House, speak more and more about Hawley’s movements with the assumption that he is considering a presidential campaign, said five people familiar with such discussions to NBC News.

A Senate Senior assistant said it seemed that Hawley was “trying to load policy recipes to lay the bases for a 2028 presidential offer.”

“It has aligned with the Democrats in most tax issues,” added the assistant. “Frankly, he has bothered many of his republican colleagues.”

But Hawley’s allies say no 2028 plot is underway.

“Josh believes that we are at a critical turning point in our history about where the party is realized,” said a person close to him. “He has been on the same mission, focusing on the same project since he was running for the first time for a position, believing that the Republican party must become a workers’ party. What he has done is consistent with that every year has been in Congress.”

On the other side of the hallway: Hawley had been discarded by the Democrats after the attack of January 6, 2021, when he was seen entering the Capitol when raising a fist to the protesters gathered outside and then advanced with his objection to the counting of electoral votes.

But only this year, Hawley has been associated with Sens., Gary Peters, D-Mich., On a bill to prohibit the trade of Congress actions; Cory Booker, Dn.J., on legislation to improve children’s labor laws; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., On a bill to prohibit artificial intelligence companies of training models on stolen materials and copyright; Bernie Sanders, I-VT., On an effort to limit the interest rates of the credit card; and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., On the legislation to regulate further the managers of pharmacy benefits, among other measures.

“Well, on January 6, it remains on the back of the minds of many people. At the same time, on issues in which we can move forward by stopping corporate greed or monopolistic control over markets, there is the need for allies,” Blumenthal said in an interview. “The iconic January 6 photo of him with a fist in the air cannot be erased from memory. But if he can bring republican support to the table for ideas that help people, sometimes working together makes sense.”

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California’s long vote can be Trump’s next goal in the war on vote

By Adam Nnovera

The last save in the campaign of President Donald Trump against the vote by mail arrived on Monday, since he announced that he wants to “lead a movement” against the mail tickets and advocate in his place for the tickets in person and on paper, which according to him are “faster and leaves no doubt at the end of the night, in who won and who lost, the elections.”

This impulse of Trump can also be convenient to be the last line of attack in the districts redistribution wars. In California, state Democrats are trying their own Gerrymander in the middle of the decade to counteract the impulse led by Trump by Republicans to attract more friendly districts in Texas. And California stands out as one of the most prominent hugs of the vote by mail, and among the slowest to tell them.

In general, mail vote represented 30% of the total vote throughout the country in 2024, below its 2020 peak of 43%. However, in California, the practice represented 81% of the total vote, according to a recent report by the Electoral Assistance Commission.

Mail vote in general has proven to be a challenging process for many electoral administrators, with obstacles that include verification of voters and votes and logistic problems such as the opening of envelopes, maintaining safe materials and, in many cases, hand counting. Essentially, all the processes that occur in person when someone votes in a vote, especially registering and verifying their record, can accumulate rapidly when it happens by mail.

But California has had some of the greatest difficulties in rapidly classifying votes by mail. Of the states with most of the vote by mail in the 2024 elections, California established a reference point for the slower progress in the morning after the elections.