Politics

Gov. Wes Moore said he has been attacked over his military service record, including recent revelations that he claimed a military honor for which he had been recommended but never received. Moore’s comments came during an hour-long interview Friday at the Texas Tribune Festival with NPR host Michele Martin. Moore said he was “recently attacked because, 20 years ago, on an application” he claimed he was awarded a Bronze Star — a medal he ultimately did not receive.

Maryland has a chance to become the first state to elect a Black governor, attorney general and U.S. senator concurrently, transforming the state into the nation’s center of Black political power in just two election cycles. Two years ago, state voters broke barriers, making Gov. Wes Moore and Attorney General Anthony Brown the first Black candidates to be independently elected to statewide offices (two Black men had previously been elected lieutenant governor as part of a ticket).

Gov. Wes Moore, waging a “war” on behalf of Democrat Angela Alsobrooks’ U.S. Senate bid, is raising funds for a new super PAC focused on defeating her opponent, Republican Larry Hogan, whom Moore succeeded as governor. Moore’s involvement with the PAC underscores the significant extent to which he has tied himself to the campaign of Alsobrooks, 53, the Prince George’s County executive.

Maryland’s 6th Congressional District has been a Democratic stronghold for more than a decade, a section of the state stretching east from Cumberland to more urban Montgomery County that former congressman John Delaney flipped blue in 2012. But, with two months left before the November general election, that may change, according to a poll released this week.

Congress returns to Washington on Monday with limited time to prevent a government shutdown and November’s elections already clouding conversations over federal financing. Funding for the federal government expires Sept. 30, when the 2024 fiscal year ends. Without new legislation, the government would shut down while millions of voters, including in some battleground states, are already able to cast their votes.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are veering sharply in how they gear up for Tuesday’s presidential debate, setting up a showdown that reflects not just two separate visions for the country but two politicians who approach big moments very differently. The vice president is cloistered in a historic hotel in downtown Pittsburgh where she can focus on honing crisp two-minute answers, per the debate’s rules.

Baltimore will receive a $6 million reimbursement from the federal government that was feared lost after the city failed to draw down the funds in a timely manner, city officials said this week. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funds will reimburse the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services, or MOHS, for expenses related to its Continuum of Care program, which among other things helps to pay for housing for homeless residents.

A midweek trip to Texas to talk policy will include a fundraiser for Gov. Wes Moore (D). Moore traveled to Austin, Texas, Thursday. He will attend the Texas Tribune Festival on Friday and sit for an interview with NPR as part of the program. The governor will talk to Michel Martin about his first two years in office and the final two months of the presidential election cycle. (You can watch that interview here.)

The board charged with implementing the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future agreed Wednesday to give a special education work group until May 30 to finish its work, well beyond the Dec. 1 target for the group to prepare recommendations for lawmakers. The Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB) agreed that the special education group needs the extra time “given the complexities” of the issues it is grappling with, and it voted to amend the overall education reform plan to reflect that.