MNI POLITICAL RISK ANALYSIS - US Daily Brief 04-08-22

Executive Summary:

• Chinese military exercises around Taiwan have pushed tensions to record levels.
• Japan has reported Chinese ballistic missiles landing in Japan's exclusive economic zone.
• Chinese FM Wang Yi has cancelled meetings with G7 counterparts at the ASEAN summit.
• White House and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are on a collision course as Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) leads a public drive towards “the most comprehensive restructuring of US policy toward Taiwan since the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979.”
• All eyes are on Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) ahead of a "vote-a-rama," on the Schumer-Manchin Inflation Reduction Act.
• House Representative Jackie Walorski (R-IN) and three members of her staff have died in car accident in Indiana.
• Data from primary elections indicates a high voter turnout for November’s midterms.
• President Biden will sign the USD$280b CHIPS and Science Act into law on Tuesday.
• The White House claims credit for an 86 cent per gallon drop in gas prices.
• The Senate has ratified Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO.
• JCPOA talks have resumed in Vienna as Iran edges closer to having the potential to build a bomb.
• Poll of the Day: A shift in the political landscape has erased the GOP's edge in the generic ballot.