Good morning! Best of luck recovering from two too many Cinco de Mayo tacos last night. The down-to-earth people of the Capitol District will celebrate their wealth at the Met Gala in New York tonight. This year’s theme is “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.”

LEAD

🗯️ A debate scheduling debate

Trump wants as many as possible, as soon as possible. Biden finally agreed to participate, he’s just not sure when or where. But the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) says the schedule is already set in stone.

• The first debate is September 16 at Texas State University

• The second is October 1 at Virginia State University

• The big finale is October 9 at the University of Utah

The two VP nominees (Kamala Harris and not-Kristi-Noem) will spar on September 25 at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania.

The CPD is a non-profit joint venture between the Democratic and Republican Parties. It’s run every general election debate since 1988 (primary debates are run by news orgs).

• Its board is comprised of a bipartisan smattering of former elected officials, party activists, and retired journalists.

The CPD calls the shots. But the two campaigns are always pushing for tiny changes they think will benefit them. That includes everything from the number of debates to the height of their podiums (don't want to look like a little kid up there next to your tall opponent).

This year could shape up to be the biggest for a third-party candidate since at least 1996. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s independent bid is picking up 10% support in the polls from disaffected voters.

But the debate stage probably won't have three podiums. The last time an independent made the cut was 1992. That year, business exec Ross Perot took on Bill Clinton and Bush the Elder and ended up earning 19% of the vote. Through the CPD, the two major parties make the rules on participation. And they don’t want anyone else on stage.

• Independent (or third-party) candidates need to regularly hit 15% in national polls to be invited.

• They'll also need to be on the ballot in states worth enough election points Electoral College votes to win (that's 270).

The Kennedy camp says it's working hard on that second point. They're on the ballot (or close) in 10 states worth 120 electoral votes.

P.S.: The Green and Libertarian Parties have that ballot access situation down pat. But the polling threshold is, um, a bit tougher. They got a combined 1.44% of the vote in 2020.

GOVERNMENT

🎖️ Civilians get medals, too

What do Mother Teresa, Tiger Woods, Tom Hanks, and Mr. Rogers all have in common? They're all recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. President Biden added nineteen people to that list at a White House ceremony on Friday. This year's winners include:

• Actress Michelle Yeoh, talk show host Phil Donahue, and Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Vice President Al Gore, and Sec. of State John Kerry

• Astronaut Ellen Ochoa, Juneteenth activist Opal Lee, and MLK speechwriter Clarence B. Jones

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the U.S.'s highest civilian honor alongside the Congressional Gold Medal (there’s a long list of other civilian awards). But, since it's given at the sole discretion of the president, it's far more common. The other requires a literal act of Congress (on that front, James Earl Jones was just nominated).

• Controversially, the award can't be revoked. So Bill Cosby gets to hang on to his.

• Because she's Dolly Parton, Dolly Parton turned down the award. Twice.

It's given to those who have made an "especially meritorious contribution" to, well, pretty much anything. You don't need to be an American citizen to receive it, either. You don't even need to be alive (Trump gave it to Elvis and Babe Ruth in 2018).

In other (government) news…

• 👮 A man died over the weekend after crashing his car into the White House perimeter gate, the Secret Service says.

• ✈️ Congress will likely vote this week on a bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The law governing the agency expires Friday.

• ⚖️ Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke is under fire for lying under oath. During her 2021 confirmation hearings, she told the Senate she’d never been arrested. Turns out she was arrested in 2006 but the event was expunged from her record.

POLITICS

🔴 Trump: Former first daughter Ivanka Trump is pondering a return to her dad’s campaign after swearing off political life post-2020. Her husband Jared Kushner is more reluctant, having since founded a successful private equity firm.

• Former White House communications director Hope Hicks took the stand in Trump's NYC hush money trial. She was forced to testify by the prosecution but gave credence to Trump’s defense by implying the hush money was paid for personal (rather than electoral) reasons.

🔵 Biden: The Biden campaign is pushing a "less is more" strategy for the president. They believe shorter, snappier speeches in front of smaller audiences will better serve their candidate.

• Some Biden strategists are pushing for the president to dump prepared campaign speeches entirely. They want him to engage directly with voters one-on-one at stops like restaurants while spending more time creating digital content.

🔴 Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) says she’ll force a vote this week on ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson. But both moderate and conservative Republicans say this is going nowhere and that Greene’s push is self-serving and bad for the Republican Party.

🔵 Federal prosecutors indicted Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) for bribery. They allege Cuellar and his wife took $600,000 from a Mexican bank and an oil company owned by the government of Azerbaijan. In exchange, he would influence U.S. policy in their favor. Cuellar, one of the House’s most moderate Dems, will remain in office and (no surprise) claims he’s innocent.

TRIVIA

John F. Kennedy famously won the first-ever presidential debate in 1960. TV viewers thought he looked young, hot, and energetic compared to his sweaty, shifty opponent. Who did JFK defeat in that election?

Hint: This guy won the White House in a later election.

WORLD

🇮🇱 Israel: News network Al Jazeera is, for now, banned from Israel. The company is owned by the government of Qatar — the same country in which Hamas leadership is based. Israeli officials claim the move was one of national security.

🇹🇭 Thailand: A Thai politician was suspended from public office after her husband caught her having an affair. The interesting part is not the affair, but who it was with — the 24-year-old monk the couple legally adopted last year.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom: Labor Party (the left-ish wing) politician Sadiq Khan won a record third term as mayor of London last week. He defeated the Conservative Party (the right-ish wing) candidate 44% to 33%, cementing Labor control of Greater London.

🇺🇸 United States: The International Criminal Court (ICC) allegedly plans to issue arrest warrants for Israeli government leaders. Now bipartisan members of Congress are threatening retaliation if the plan goes forward. The White House seemed to agree, saying the ICC has "no jurisdiction."

BRIEFS

• Scientists say a planet in the Pisces constellation, nicknamed “Hot Jupiter,” is getting brighter because it's raining molten iron

• Sony will begin negotiations this week to buy Paramount for $26 billion as Paramount’s talks with Skydance Media continue

• Scientists are predicting 11 hurricanes between June and November this year (five of them major) due to warm seasonal temperatures

• As Niger gives America the boot, Russian troops have moved into an airbase where some U.S. forces are still stationed

• The Department of Transportation's new rule requires new cars to include automatic braking safety tech at “up to 90 mph”

• The United Methodist Church lifted its ban on gay clergy following its 2022 split with the new Global Methodist Church

QUOTE

SNACKS

🏇 Derby: The owner of (seventh-ranked) Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan is $3.1 million richer. The three-way photo finish was the closest since 1947.

😃 Happiness: Cold schmold. Finland is the world's #1 happiest country. It topped the World Happiness Report for the 7th year in a row.

🎞️ Star Wars: To celebrate May the Fourth, Disney dropped a new trailer for the upcoming Disney+ series “The Acolyte.”

ANSWER

The young, hot JFK defeated the also young (but not as hot) Richard Nixon in 1960. Those who watched the first debate on TV thought Kennedy won in a walk. Radio listeners, however, thought Nixon won the night.

It’s probably no coincidence that there were no debates when Nixon came back to win the presidency eight years later.