Happy Monday! President Donald Trump is continuing his tirade against Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Baltimore congressman who is black and chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. It’s a move that has given more ammunition to those who have denounced the way Trump condemns political foes of color, and led to new debate over his use of discordant rhetoric for political gain, whatever the consequences. [Politico]
Topping the news: San Juan County paid $485,600 to a Louisiana law firm to lobby against the Bears Ears National Monument. [Trib]
-> The Trump administration plans to reject Utah’s request for a partial Medicaid expansion plan. [Trib] [WaPost] [DNews]
-> The passage of a South Dakota law requiring “in God we trust” to be displayed in public schools has sparked debate across the country, but Utah has had a similar law on the books since 2002. [Trib]
Tweets of the day: From @daveweigel: “An under-appreciated fact about the Democrats’ new woke litmus tests is that they can disappear if activists say so. Take ‘abolish ICE,’ which seemed set to become a 2020 litmus test until Latino groups pushed back bc it hurt overall goals.”
-> From @mattyglesias: “I know you can’t fact-check racism out of existence, but come on people.”
Happy Birthday: Today to Rep. Bruce Cutler, R-Holladay. And belatedly to Weber State’s Julie Snowball, Lt. Governor’s Office Special Assistant India Nielsen, Utah Insurance Commissioner Todd Kiser, state Sen. Ralph Okerlund, Errol K. Seaver, a football video coordinator at BYU, Caroline Updike and Leo Masic, a planner at UTA.
News quiz: Last week, 98% of you knew that Utah wants more state employees to work from home, but only 39% knew that cows are likely killing the world’s most massive living: Utah’s Pando aspen grove. Think you kept up with the news this week? Take our quiz to find out. A new one will post every Friday morning. You can find previous quizzes here. If you’re using The Salt Lake Tribune mobile app, click here. [Trib]
Also in the news: A state senator from Emery County told governors from around the nation at the National Governors Association summer meetup that the solution to saving rural communities is not moving them from coal to renewable energy, but finding new uses for fossil fuels. [Trib]
-> Gov. Gary Herbert spoke on a panel with the president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and a top official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the National Governors Association meeting and encouraged other state’s to adopt Utah’s tough DUI laws. [Trib] [DNews]
-> The only Democrat in Utah’s federal delegation has the highest approval rating and Sen. Mitt Romney has the lowest approval rating. [Trib] [UtahPolicy] [DNews]
-> The Utah Psychologist Licensing Board has approved a draft rule that would regulate conversion therapy on LGBTQ children in Utah, prohibiting any effort to change the sexual orientation of anyone under 18. [FOX13]
-> Cartoonist Pat Bagley illustrates the relationship between the Republican Party and Russian President Vladimir Putin. [Trib]
Nationally: President Donald Trump announced via tweet on Sunday that his director of national intelligence Dan Coats would be stepping down because the two were often at odds over foreign policy. [NYTimes]
-> White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney says Trump will sign the $2.7 trillion spending bill passed by the House Thursday. [Politico]
-> The Democratic House has passed a long list of legislation but much of it has been stalled or blocked in the Republican-controlled Senate. [NYTimes]
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-- Thomas Burr and Alison Berg
