CHICAGO — Democratic Party officials are on the verge of greenlighting a Bernie Sanders-endorsed plan to weaken the influence of superdelegates in the presidential nominating process. But it won’t be pretty.

As Democratic National Committee members arrived here Thursday for their annual summer meeting, outspoken opponents of the proposal acknowledged they were outnumbered. Still, they pledged an aggressive, last-ditch lobbying effort ahead of a Saturday vote, defying a call for unity from party leaders.

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“We’re up against a wall,” said Bob Mulholland, a superdelegate and DNC member from California who helped organize opposition to the proposal. “We’re going to fight it like hell.”

The opposition campaign threatened to undercut a bid by party leaders to present a unified front before a critical midterm election, exasperating officials who have worked for months to design a compromise. Less than a day into the proceedings — and with the superdelegate controversy hanging heavily over the gathering — New York Assemblyman Michael Blake, vice chairman of the DNC, said “my patience is growing short.”

Leaving an executive committee meeting on Thursday morning, Blake said, “We’ve got real shit to get done, to go help people.”

The superdelegate issue has bedeviled the party for the past two years, ever since the bulk of superdelegates — the members of Congress, governors and DNC members and other top officials who made up about 15 percent of delegates during the 2016 convention — overwhelmingly sided with Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primary.

In some cases, their support for Clinton came in defiance of the popular vote outcome in their states, leading Sanders’ supporters to rage against a nominating process they contended was tilted in Clinton’s favor.

The current proposal, a priority of Sanders and his supporters since the Vermont senator’s defeat two years ago — a result of the “Unity Reform Commission” established at the 2016 national convention — would prohibit superdelegates from voting on the first presidential nominating ballot at a contested national convention, reducing their influence in a nominating process.

Its approval would allow Democrats to finally put one of the bitterest feuds of the last presidential primary behind them.

“If the DNC rejects this, it basically rejects the will of the convention,” said Mark Longabaugh, a senior adviser to Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. “The left wing of the party would be outraged.”

By July, the measure had drawn the support not only of the party’s left flank, but many Clinton supporters, as well. Championed by Tom Perez, the party chairman, the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee overwhelmingly approved the measure, which was endorsed not only by Sanders, but also two former DNC chairs — former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 running mate.

At a DNC executive committee meeting on Thursday morning, Jim Roosevelt, co-chairman of the Rules and Bylaws Committee, told members, “It’s about the future, it’s about not rehashing the past, but how do we bring people together for the victory that we have to have going forward.”

Yet opposition to the proposal appeared to pick up steam in recent weeks, when Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond argued publicly that the plan would disenfranchise elected officials who serve as superdelegates.

“There should be enough room in the process to include the perspective of local party activists and officials, and Members of Congress,” Richmond said in a letter to Perez. “One group should not be harmed at the expense of the other.”

Richmond, a Louisiana congressman, argued the rule change is “a solution in search of a problem,” adding that “unelected delegates have never gone against the will of primary voters in picking Democratic presidential nominees.”

Inside the Hyatt Regency convention halls, opponents of the proposal are raising objections both on substantive and procedural grounds. They argue, among other points, that such a significant rules change should require a two-thirds vote, not a simple majority — a position DNC officials reject.

If the proposal is adopted, superdelegates could vote on the first convention ballot only if a candidate earned enough pledged delegates from state parties and caucuses to win the nomination.

After meeting with about 15 opponents of the proposal at the convention hotel Thursday afternoon, William Owen, a DNC member from Tennessee who is helping to organize the resistance, said, “I think we’ve got a shot at trying to slow this thing down.”

He said he expected “a close vote and a contested vote.”

Even if the proposal ultimately is adopted, the tension surrounding the measure threatened to overshadow the DNC’s efforts to project an image of cohesion less than three months before the midterm elections.

Meeting down the street from the massive Trump International Hotel and Tower, Perez appealed to committee members to come together.

“Every issue we care about is on the ballot, and we need to leave Chicago united so that we can put Democrats in the best position to win across the country,” he said in an email to DNC members. “These reforms are all about the future. They’re about growing our party and restoring trust among voters, especially young people who share our values and who we need to get out and vote.”

Perez added, “I’m confident these reforms will make our party stronger, more diverse, and better positioned to win elections in November, 2020, and beyond. Let’s seize this moment together.”

The following morning, addressing members of the DNC’s executive committee, Perez said, “I’m confident that we can come out of here united.”

But the specter of a contested vote on Saturday hung heavily over the convention’s opening day. In front of the convention hotel on Thursday morning, a handful of supporters of the measure waved signs that read, “Support Rules & Bylaws Committee on ‘Superdelegates.’”

“We’ve got so much wrongheaded and uninformed backlash,” said Jeff Cohen, co-founder of RootsAction.org, an online activist group. “The stupidity would be, a couple of months before the election, picking a fight with the [Democratic] base.”

ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS: “While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action.” The full statement

— FROM THIS MORNING … TELL US HOW YOU REALLY FEEL!: “Trump Lays Into Sessions: ‘What Kind of a Man Is This?’” by Newsweek’s Chantal Da Silva: “After being asked whether he would consider firing Sessions during a wide-ranging interview with Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt, the president pointed out that Sessions ‘recused himself, which he shouldn’t have done. Or, he should have told me.’ …

“The president then said that Sessions was only given a spot on the U.S. leader’s 2016 campaign team because of Sessions’ ‘loyalty’ to him.” Newsweek

— CNN’S KAITLAN COLLINS (@kaitlancollins): “Jeff Sessions just arrived at the White House………….. He’s here for a meeting with President Trump to discuss prison reform, along with Jared Kushner and Mercedes Schlapp, a White House official confirms. To be a fly on that wall.”

— “Graham hints that Trump may oust Sessions ‘sooner rather than later,’” by Rebecca Morin: POLITICO

— BLOOMBERG’S STEVE DENNIS: “Senator Chuck Grassley, the current Judiciary chairman, also changed his position on Thursday, saying in an interview that he’d be able to make time for hearings for a new attorney general after saying in the past that the panel was too busy to tackle that explosive possibility.” Bloomberg

JUST POSTED — “David Pecker Granted Immunity in Cohen Case,” by WSJ’s Nicole Hong and Lukas Alpert: “David Pecker, the chief executive of the company that publishes the National Enquirer, was granted immunity by federal prosecutors for providing information about Michael Cohen and Donald Trump in the criminal investigation into hush-money payments for two women during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to people familiar with the matter. …

“Prosecutors have indicated Dylan Howard, chief content officer of American Media, also won’t be criminally charged in the Cohen investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter.” WSJ

PLAYBOOK SCOOP — MARY BETH MAXWELL, who headed up the HRC Foundation — the Human Rights Campaign’s educational arm — resigned from the organization on Wednesday after a colleague of hers reported that she had used the N-word twice in front of a colleague. In an internal email to staff sent out earlier today, HRC President Chad Griffin said Maxwell had used the racist term once when recounting “an upsetting personal story” and a second time when repeating “the word in describing an external situation that [she] found horrifying, in which racial and homophobic slurs were used.”

HE WROTE IN THE MEMO THAT her use of the term was “inappropriate and harmful” and said he had accepted her resignation. Griffin said in the memo that when the allegations were reported to HR, the organization launched an investigation, and upon receiving preliminary findings Monday night, he immediately suspended Maxwell without pay. After he received the full findings on Wednesday, he accepted her resignation.

MAXWELL, WHO SERVED in the Labor Department in the Obama administration, also wrote a note that was forwarded to all employees by HRC’s chief of staff, in which Maxwell, who led the foundation for the last three years, called her use of the N-word a mistake that “caused harm to people I love and the work that I hold dear.”

SHE WROTE she takes responsibility for her use of those words, for which she has “deep regret.” “While in each instance I was conveying something that really happened — in the first I was emotional and scared that it had been said and in the second feeling urgency about addressing a deeply racist and homophobic encounter that a colleague recounted — I should never have said that word out loud. Period.” Griffin’s memo … Maxwell’s note

— One longtime HRC observer told us in reaction to Maxwell’s departure: “HRC has become an effective leader in the alliance of organizations fighting for racial justice. This was the right outcome. An organization has to live the values it espouses.” HRC declined to comment beyond the internal memo but confirmed the authenticity of the memos. Maxwell did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Good Thursday afternoon. ATTENDING the White House roundtable discussion on the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act today: John Kelly, Steven Mnuchin, Christopher Liddell, Shahira Knight, Larry Kudlow, Mira Ricardel, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

— PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP declined to answer press questions and “sat with his arms folded, expressionless, as the pool was hastily escorted amid a cascade of questions over Michael Cohen plea,” per pooler Dan Freedman of Hearst. “People have said to me it’s the first time they’ve ever seen it that the United States is, like, a hot country. We used to be a hot country many years ago. But now we’re the hot country again. Everyone wants to be here,” Trump told the room.

BREAKING — “Pompeo names new North Korean envoy ahead of visit,” by Caitlin Oprysko and Nahal Toosi: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday appointed Steve Biegun as the administration’s envoy for North Korea just days ahead of a crucial diplomatic visit to the closed-off Asian country to discuss denuclearization.

“Biegun, who Pompeo praised as ‘eminently qualified’ and ‘clear-eyed in the challenge before us,’ is currently the vice president of international government affairs at Ford Motor Company. The secretary of state said he and Biegun would travel to North Korea next week, ‘to make further diplomatic progress toward’ getting Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions. …

“Biegun is the third special envoy Pompeo has announced in recent days — a break with Pompeo’s predecessor, Rex Tillerson, who eliminated dozens of such special envoy roles in an attempt to reorganize the State Department.” POLITICO

— DAN SHAPIRO, Obama’s ambassador to Israel (@DanielBShapiro): “Steve Biegun is a pro, the real deal. That is an excellent hire.”

— FLASHBACK … NAHAL on June 30: “‘Nobody in the bullpen’: White House approaches North Korea talks without envoy”

PAGING FOGGY BOTTOM … “Trump tweets the word ‘Africa’ for first time as president — in defense of whites in South Africa,” by WaPo’s Isaac Stanley-Becker: “President Trump on Wednesday night said he was directing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to ‘closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures,’ as well as the ‘killing of farmers.’ …

“The apparent basis of Trump’s directions to the nation’s top diplomat were accusations leveled by Fox — accusations that echo talking points used by white-nationalist groups, including an organization that has referred to ‘the so-called apartheid’ and the ‘so-called “historical injustices of the past.”’” WaPo

— South African Government (@GovernmentZA): “South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past.”

ELIANA JOHNSON: “Trump speechwriter’s ouster sparks racially charged debate”: “It took just 80 minutes after racially incendiary emails started flying for the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank, to shut down an email Listserv connecting hundreds of high-profile conservatives. …

“The episode provides a window into the challenges facing the Trump-friendly right as it has struggled to build an intellectual movement that can outlast Trump — and to rid itself of bigots and fringe elements who have glommed on to some of the president’s immigration rhetoric.” POLITICO

HEADS UP — “Leaker of secret report on Russian hacking gets 5 years,” by the AP’s Meg Kinnard: “A former government contractor who pleaded guilty to mailing a classified U.S. report to a news organization was sentenced to more than five years Thursday as part of a deal with prosecutors, who called it the longest sentence ever imposed for a federal crime involving leaks to the media.

“Reality Winner, 26, pleaded guilty in June to a single count of transmitting national security information. The former Air Force translator worked as a contractor at a National Security Agency’s office in Augusta, Georgia, when she printed a classified report and left the building with it tucked into her pantyhose. … [T]he Justice Department announced Winner’s June 2017 arrest the same day The Intercept reported on a secret NSA document.” AP

SABATO’S CRYSTAL BALL RATINGS CHANGES — KYLE KONDIK: “[I]f one believes the Democrats are favored in the race for the House — and we do, although we don’t think the result is locked in concrete — then something in the political environment needs to change, in a positive way, for Republicans to regain the advantage. The Cohen/Manafort news was not that.” With 10 seats moving toward Dems and two toward the GOP: Crystal Ball

2018: THE MUDSLINGING CAMPAIGN … FIRST IN PLAYBOOK … THE CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP FUND is running an ad bringing up sexual harassment allegations against California Democratic nominee Gil Cisneros. The ad is $300,000 of a $2.5 million buy. Cisneros is running against Young Kim. The 34-second spot

MORE ON MICHAEL COHEN — “Cohen’s admission doesn’t mean Trump is guilty, legal experts say,” by Josh Gerstein: “[A] very high legal standard that is applied in criminal cases involving alleged campaign finance violations means Trump might not be guilty even if his lawyer is. …

“[A]s a lawyer, Cohen could be assumed to have some familiarity with federal election law. … Proving that Trump knew at the time that the payouts were intended to influence the presidential race, and that he knew they were illegal, could be much harder.” POLITICO

DEPT. OF STOP SNITCHING! — “After Cohen flips, Trump says deals with prosecutors ‘almost ought to be outlawed,’” by Stephanie Murray: POLITICO

— “Pelosi: Tuesday was Trump’s ‘day of reckoning,’” by Carla Marinucci in San Francisco: POLITICO

A MANAFORT JUROR SPEAKS … “Manafort juror reveals lone holdout prevented Mueller team from winning conviction on all counts,” by Fox News’ Peter Doocy, Jake Gibson and Lucas Tomlinson: “[Paula] Duncan described herself as an avid supporter of President Trump, but said she was moved by four full boxes of exhibits provided by Mueller’s team – though she was skeptical about prosecutors’ motives in the financial crimes case. …

“She described a tense and emotional four days of deliberations, which ultimately left one juror holding out. Behind closed doors, tempers flared at times, even though jurors never explicitly discussed Manafort’s close ties to Trump.

“‘It was a very emotionally charged jury room – there were some tears,’ Duncan said about deliberations with a group of Virginians she didn’t feel included many ‘fellow Republicans.’” Fox News

2018 WATCH — “‘A new cherry put on top’: Trump scandal fallout hangs over midterms,” by Natasha Korecki and James Arkin: “However momentous, even the conviction of Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, a guilty plea involving hush money by his personal lawyer and the indictment of a key congressional ally wasn’t enough to dramatically alter the trajectory of the midterm elections. …

“Yet several Republican consultants expressed fear that the weight and severity of the legal cases against Trump’s former campaign manager and personal attorney, coupled with the constant drumbeat of negative stories and scandals, had the potential to turn off key constituencies.” POLITICO

— “GOP embraces Trump’s hard-line immigration platform as ‘a winner for Republicans’ in November,” by WaPo’s David Nakamura and Sean Sullivan: “The aim is to draw a sharp contrast with Democrats over enforcement of border control laws. Republican strategists view immigration as a deeply emotional issue that motivates the conservative base, and they have delighted as liberals push Democrats to the left as a reaction to Trump’s presidency.” WaPo

— “Republican playbook for 2018: Tie Democrats to Nancy Pelosi, Medicare for All, and abolishing ICE,” by USA Today’s Eliza Collins in Chesterfield, Virginia: “Republican Rep. Dave Brat is running against a far-left Democrat, an all-out liberal. Trouble is, that caricature bears little resemblance to the candidate actually opposing him. … Republicans like Brat, who face surprisingly competitive races across the country, are trying to tie all Democrats to the most progressive wing of the party.” USA Today

WHAT TOM PEREZ IS READING — “Loyal Democratic donors: We’re done with the DNC ‘until they get their act together,’” by McClatchy’s Ben Wieder and Adam Wollner: “The [DNC] — the party’s signature organization — has posted its worst midterm fund raising totals in more than a decade. … Some of the party’s most generous donors have shifted their money elsewhere this cycle.” McClatchy

TRADE WARS — “China slaps back at latest United States tariffs in trade war escalation,” by South China Morning Post’s Teddy Ng: “China slapped 25 per cent tariffs on an additional US$16 billion in American goods on Thursday – following a similar move by the United States in their escalating trade war. The escalation came despite Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen’s current visit to Washington for talks with US Treasury undersecretary David Malpass, in an effort to reduce tensions. …

“The Chinese tariff list covers 333 products including large passenger cars, motorcycles and baby carriages.” SCMP

— “Trump aide: China still hasn’t addressed U.S. concerns,” by Doug Palmer: POLITICO

HEADLINES THE PRESIDENT WILL LIKE — “British Airways and Air France suspend flights to Tehran,” by The National: “Both airlines will cancel the route in September, amid increased US sanctions prohibiting businesses from operating in the country.” The National

— U.S. EMBASSY IN BERLIN (@usbotschaft): “We are pleased to see @Siemens joining other German companies like @deutschetelekom, Deutsche Bahn (@DB_Presse), and @Daimler in leaving Iran. #sanctionsareworking”

HMM … “‘Dark money’ boosts Democratic super PAC that’s battling ‘corrupt campaign finance system,’” by the Center for Public Integrity’s Lateshia Beachum: “BlackPAC — an upstart super PAC that’s raised millions to support Democrats — has received a new infusion of ‘dark money’ to fuel its 2018 midterm election efforts, according to new federal filings.” The Center for Public Integrity

NOT DRAINED YET! … “Emails show the swamp stretches to the Agriculture Department,” by CNN’s Rene Marsh: “From suggestions for members of a science committee to emails sent ‘on the sly’ and thoughts for the secretary’s speeches, new internal emails from the US Department of Agriculture show big food industry lobbyists are working hand-in-glove with agency staffers. …

“Though exposing no apparent legal violation, they offer a window into how some top USDA political appointees — former lobbyists themselves — are in frequent contact with their old employers and others who are lobbying the agency … even accepting and using talking points for one of Secretary Sonny Perdue’s speeches.” CNN

2020 WATCH — “Elizabeth Warren Was A Singular Progressive Icon. Now People Ask Her How She’s Different From Bernie Sanders,” by BuzzFeed’s Ruby Cramer: “For those on the left, the difference between Warren and Sanders has less to do with policy or ideology. Really, they say, it’s a question about progressive power — about two vastly different theories of change. It’s ‘the preacher vs. the teacher,’ as one former Sanders adviser put it.

“Now, when Warren gets the question, she has her answer ready. ‘He’s a socialist,’ she’ll say, ‘and I believe in markets.’ If Bernie Sanders is leading a political revolution, then Elizabeth Warren is waging a different kind of fight. It’s more tactical and methodical. It’s robust, specific government regulation and oversight.” BuzzFeed

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — BUSH ALUMNI: Scott Evertz, former director of the Office of National AIDS Policy under President George W. Bush, is writing a book called “Watch Out For the Snipers,” where he “tells the story of navigating a path between the President’s conservative right base and the liberal left who claim ownership for the issue,” according to a source familiar with the project. Evertz was the first openly gay person appointed by a Republican president.

OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at a book party at the Mayflower Hotel last night for Ann Coulter’s new book “Resistance is Futile!”: Larry Solov, Jeremy Peters, Julia Hahn, Sergio Gor, Alex Marlow, Alexandra Preate, Matt Boyle, Tony Sayegh, Mike Rubino, Eliana Johnson, Jennifer Jacobs, Mickey Kaus, Mike Isikoff, Andy Surabian, Katrina Pierson, Amanda Lee House, Rebecca Karabus, Nihal Krishan, Eric Bolling, Erin Montgomery, Melissa Brown, Emily Jashinsky, Charlie Spiering, Saagar Enjeti and Vince Coglianese.

— SPOTTED at Hamilton Place Strategies’ summer “pop-up” party last night at its office: Carl Hulse, Paul Kane, Chris Frates, Antonia Ferreira, Joe Pounder, Matt McDonald, Mark Paustenbach, Zeke Miller, Allie Brandenburger, Paul Lindsay, Matt Dawes and Maya Arrieta-Walden.

TRANSITIONS — Khan Shoieb is launching a new health care firm, Cycle. He most recently headed communications for Oscar Health and is an Obama 2012 alum. … Brian Johnson will be a principal at the Vogel Group. He is currently director of federal relations for tax at the American Petroleum Institute. …

… Chandler Morse has started at Workday as U.S. public policy director. He most recently was chief of staff for Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.). … Charles McCray III will be a senior communications staffer for Dino Rossi’s election campaign. He was previously a manager on Amazon’s federal public policy team.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Pace Bradshaw, VP and head of legislative and political operations at Visa and an alum of the Consumer Bankers Association and Mortgage Bankers Association, and Kelly Bradshaw, who works at Gartner in talent acquisition, welcomed Reagan, who joins big sisters Addison and Millie Grace. Pic … Another pic

— CORKER ALUMNI — John Goetz, director of government affairs at Permobil Inc., and Whitney Goetz, who works at the Tennessee Dept. of Treasury and is an alum of the Tennessee Republican Party, welcomed Theodore Lee Goetz, who joins big brother George. The parents are also both alums of Sen. Bob Corker’s office. Pic … Another pic

BONUS BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Bradley Singer, talent agent at WME. A fun fact about Bradley: “Although my roster is now news-heavy (with wonderful clients like Tamron Hall, Ronan Farrow, Tara Palmeri, Jamie Weinstein, Sunny Hostin, and Emily Jane Fox, just to name a few), my very first client was actually a musician: the noted Kansas City-based ‘fast rapper,’ Mac Lethal. He’s a great guy, and although he lives on the Kansas side of the border, I’m hoping he’ll cross the state line and canvas for Jason Kander!” Q&A

• Anna Palmer @apalmerdc
• Jake Sherman @JakeSherman
• Daniel Lippman @dlippman
• Eli Okun @eliokun

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