Good morning! TikTok’s legal filing says it cannot comply with the new law forcing the sale of its U.S. business to an American company, saying "the Chinese government has made it clear that it would not permit” the sale. You might want to start dipping your toes into the wide world of YouTube Shorts just in case.

2024

🚛 Risk-it-Rubio?

Would you resign a Senate seat for a shot at the vice presidency? That's the question Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is pondering after Donald Trump mentioned Rubio as a potential VP pick. There's only one problem with that: the Constitution.

Wait, what? Trump and Rubio both live in Florida. If they want to get elected president and vice president, one of them's going to have to move. And it's not going to be the guy with the palatial beachfront estate.

The Twelfth Amendment says presidential and VP candidates from the same state can't both win that state's electoral votes.

• Here's the money quote: "The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves."

In English, please: Presidential elections are about Electoral Votes. Each state gets a pile. You win that state, you win its Electoral Votes. You win 270 of those, you win the election.

• But if the president and VP candidates are both from that state, they can't both win its Electoral Votes.

So if Trump picks Rubio as VP and they win, they better win by a large enough margin that they don't need Florida's 30 Electoral Votes.

Risk it for the biscuit. Rubio could move. He'd have to resign his Senate seat. But going from 1-of-100 to "Mr. Vice President" could be worth the risk that they lose.

• Rubio could technically keep living in Florida until after the election. If he and Trump win? Resign and move ASAP before the Electoral College votes.

Either way, you can expect some lawsuits over this if Trump picks Rubio. Not raising the issue would be political malpractice on the part of Democrats.

GOVERNMENT

🏴 The DoD brings another one home

Leave no one behind. That’s not just a traditional value or motto of the U.S. military. They live it out. And they spend north of $100 million a year doing it.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) exists to recover military personnel from past war zones around the world. And they just brought another one home.

2nd Lt. Allan W. Knepper was 27 years old when his P-38 Lightning took off in Tunisia during World War II. More than 80 years later, the DPAA brought his remains home to his last surviving family member in Idaho.

The DPAA maintains an exhaustive list of those unaccounted for in all recent wars. The numbers are, thankfully, relatively low for more recent conflicts. But they rise dramatically as you go back. The number for World War II: 72,088. One fewer than last week.

In other news…

• The Commerce Department slapped 37 Chinese companies with trade restrictions for allegedly interfering with U.S. national security (including via the famous 2023 spy balloon)

• Congress approved a one-week reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), giving it a bit more time to debate specifics

POLITICS

🔴 Trump: Barron Trump, who just turned 18, will join three of his four siblings in serving as a delegate to this summer’s Republican National Convention. Delegates will vote to officially make Donald Trump the party’s nominee.

• Testimony at Trump’s criminal trial Thursday claimed the Republican Party debated dumping Trump in October 2016 after the vulgar “Access Hollywood” tape dropped.

🔵 Biden: The president threw a little fuel on the “concerned about his age” fire during a speech this week. He again read the teleprompter a little too directly, referring to a man as “Riley Last Name.”

• Pop culture is leaking into politics. Biden's campaign team remade Kendrick Lamar's "Euphoria" diss track to attack Trump.

⚪ Louisana plans to rewrite its state constitution. The state's House approved the move, so the idea now heads to the state’s Senate. If it agrees, the Louisiana legislature and 27 delegates appointed by the governor will complete the rewrite. Voters would then need to approve the new governing document. The current Constitution of Louisiana dates to 1974.

🔴 The day after agreeing to hold off, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) forced the House to vote on ousting Speaker Mike Johnson (R) from the speakership. The House voted immediately and Greene lost by a whopping 359-43.

🔵 Biden aide Maggie Goodlander (D) announced a run for Congress in New Hampshire. She’s accomplished in her own right, but her campaign is notable for another reason. Her husband, Jake Sullivan, is President Biden’s national security advisor (one of the most powerful people in government).

🔵 NYC Mayor Eric Adams (D) is getting an intra-party challenge from another Democrat. State Sen. Zellnor Myrie will challenge Adams in next year’s mayoral race and argue the mayor isn’t progressive enough.

TRIVIA

Before Vice President Kamala Harris became VP, she served in the Senate. Before that, she was elected to a statewide office in California. What California state office did Kamala Harris hold from 2011-2017?

Hint: She’s an attorney.

WORLD

🇮🇷 Iran: An Iranian court sentenced film director Mohammad Rasoulof to eight years in prison with a side of flogging. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has long considered him a danger to national security due to the content of his movies.

🇲🇰 North Macedonia: A 70-year-old conservative law professor won 65% of the vote to become North Macedonia's first female president. Formerly just "Macedonia," the name changed in 2019 to appease nearby Greece (home of ancient Macedonia) and ease its path into the E.U.

🇷🇺 Russia: Russia's annual Victory Day parade celebrates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War 2. But the war in Ukraine is taking its toll. Yesterday's 79th-anniversary event showed off just one single, lone tank.

🇺🇸 United States: President Biden will not send certain weapons to Israel that could be used to assault the city of Rafah. Now some Republicans want to impeach him, saying Democrats impeached Trump for withholding similar, congressionally approved aid to Ukraine. Israel says it “will stand alone” if necessary."

🇺🇸 United States: A Florida sheriff's deputy shot and killed 23-year-old special ops Airman Roger Fortson while responding to a domestic disturbance. Fortson was armed. But his family says he was home alone and police were at the wrong apartment.

BRIEFS

• So long, Sriracha sauce — Huy Fong Foods will stop production until after Labor Day due to a shortage of red jalapeños

• Amazon finally expanded into Africa — South Africans can now join the rest of us in risking it on sus brands like LEFDOKIV

• Both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA resigned their titles over “mental health” and “personal values” concerns

• Alabama followed Florida’s lead and became the second state to ban the production or sale of lab-grown meat

• A federal court unanimously ruled that a private Catholic school had the legal right to fire a teacher for marrying a same-sex partner

• In response to obscene 287% inflation, Argentina will issue bills worth 20,000 pesos a pop (that’s about $11)

QUOTE

SNACKS

🍏 Apple: In a near-exact reversal of its famous 1984 ad about smashing uniformity, Apple’s new iPad ad literally crushes music and art. People are not loving it.

🔌 TV: Subscriber churn is a huge financial obstacle for streaming. Now Disney+, Hulu, and Max have a plan to solve it: a packaged three-in-one deal.

🧙‍♂️ LOTR: Warner Bros. announced a new Lord of the Rings movie tentatively titled “The Hunt for Gollum.” Longtime Gollum actor Andy Serkis will direct.

ANSWER

Kamala Harris was twice elected California Attorney General. She resigned that office after winning election to the U.S. Senate in 2016. Before serving as AG, she was elected district attorney (DA) in San Francisco.