The Week Ahead: July 29-August 2

The Senate has its last week of session before a long August recess, while the House of Representatives hit the road on Friday.  The swamp will be drained for a few weeks anyway!  President Trump has not yet announced his vacation plans.  CNN and New York Times reporter Michael Shear say the President will head out of town at some point but “isn’t happy about it” — apparently the President said, “I like working.”   Maybe he will avoid the beach — it is Shark Week after all (more below).  And if you want a Swamp (of the DC variety) Deep Dive, you can watch this 4-part series on MSNBC that started last night.

Debate and Rally:  Washington will slow to a halt and all eyes will turn to the midwest this week.  CNN’s two nights with the 20 top Democratic candidates are Tuesday and Wednesday in Detroit – we will preview it for you tomorrow.  Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the President and Vice President will hold a Keep America Great rally in Cincinnati.  Tweet storms and media frenzy to follow.

Once You Tire of Sharks:  Discovery will premier a 6-episode series called Serengeti next Sunday (August 4) at 8 pm.  Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o, the show “follows the interconnected stories of a cast of savannah animals over one year, in a bold new dramatized natural history format.” The Lion King for real?  To read more, here’s a NY Times interview with Nyong’o on why she did the series.

ICYMI:  The Supreme Court (in a 5-4 decision along political lines) late last Friday handed a loss to the environmental groups challenging the President’s border wall, allowing its construction to continue with funds repurposed from other projects even as the President’s action continues to be challenged in court.  The lower courts had stopped construction until the case could be heard on the merits, but the Supreme Court lifted the stay because if construction had stopped the funding would have expired before the case could be heard.  See SCOTUSblog for a deeper dive.