Quarterly polling by the Republican firm Firehouse Strategies, with Optimus, had President Trump struggling in the mega-battlegrounds of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — but in the newest edition, he beats every Democrat. The big picture: Trump won by an average of six percentage points in hypothetical match-ups against all current Democratic candidates, including Joe Biden, who was performing well in head-to-head contests against Trump in polling conducted earlier in the year. What they're saying: Firehouse partner Alex Conant tells Axios: "Democrats racing towards impeachment are at serious risk of leaving behind the voters they need to retake the White House next year." Methodology: The survey was conducted Dec. 3 through Dec. 5 and interviewed 1,759 likely 2020 general election voters in Wisconsin (N = 610), Michigan (N = 551), and Pennsylvania (N = 598) via live landline, live cellphone and peer to peer text message to web and has a margin of error of +/- 4.1% in Wis., ± 4.3% in Mich., and ± 4.3% in Pa.
The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it would keep the benchmark interest rate at its current range of 1.5%-1.75%, a widely expected decision that ends the Fed's rate-cutting streak.
Why it matters: The central bank is confident the economy doesn't need easier borrowing conditions to stay afloat and signaled no further cuts through the 2020 election, though uncertainties like the trade war remain. Still, President Trump continues to goad the Fed to further trim rates.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said at a hearing Wednesday that he was "surprised" that U.S. Attorney John Durham, who has been tasked by Attorney General Bill Barr with investigating the origins of the Russia probe, issued a statement on Monday disputing some of the conclusions of his report.
India passed a citizenship amendment on Wednesday that, for the first time, makes religion a criterion of acquiring Indian nationality, the Washington Post reports.
Why it matters: Concerns continue to grow that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is turning the country into a Hindu nationalist state. The amended citizenship law creates a pathway to citizenship for Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Parsi and Sikh migrants who fled from Pakistan and Afghanistan before 2015, but excludes Muslims entirely, Al Jazeera reports.
