This week in politics: DeSantis seeks reboot, Ohio referendum previews abortion fight

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is having a long, hot summer in his quest to catch up with former President Donald Trump in the polls.

As a result the Florida governor hit the reset button again this week by replacing his campaign manager with his chief of staff, which is latest in a series of shakeups, such as cutting campaign staff after running low on cash.

DeSantis is also mixing it up politically, whether on the trail against Trump or with foes at home.

This week he again suspended a democratically elected Florida prosecutor, claiming her personal "political agenda" was interfering with her role in a move that has infuriated liberals in the state. And during an interview with NBC News he acknowledged Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.

“Of course he lost,” DeSantis said. "Joe Biden’s the president."

Trump's chief concern these days doesn't appear to be any of his political rivals catching up in the polls as much as his ongoing, and increasingly serious, legal troubles.

We learned this week that Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith, who is pursuing two criminal cases against Trump, obtained a search warrant for the former commander-in-chief's long-dormant Twitter account.

Specifically the government looked for activity before and during the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks on the U.S. Capitol building. The courtroom drama is picking up in that case, which alleges Trump tried to steal the 2020 presidential election after the judge warned him against making "inflammatory" statements online.

Democrats aren't all kumbaya either as Sen. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, revealed that he is considering dumping the party to become an independent lawmaker.

"The brand has become so bad," he said.

Congress remains on break during its August recess, but when they come back President Joe Biden has a $21 billion favor he'd like lawmakers to do in the form of emergency military assistance and humanitarian support for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.

A similar aid package sailed through Congress the last time, but Biden should expect more pushback from House Republicans this time around.

Outside of Washington voters in Ohio rejected an effort to make it harder to amend the state constitution ahead of a critical November ballot question on abortion rights.

The side opposing the change, which was spearheaded by state Republicans, prevailed 57% to 43% with many taking the special election results as a bellwether for the rest of the country in the post-Roe era.

The DeSantis reboot

Ron DeSantis needs another do-over, and the conservative Florida governor started by ousting his presidential campaign manager in a move that he hopes will jumpstart his battle to be the GOP's top dog.

James Uthmeier, who has served as chief of staff in the governor's office, will take over from Generra Peck, who led DeSantis's reelection campaign when it won by landslide last year.

Within Florida circles Uthmeier is thought of as a close and trusted adviser, though he lacks campaign experience which the Trump team is eager to exploit.

"SHAKEUP!" Jason Miller, a top Trump adviser, said via social media: "Is this DeSanctimonious Reboot 4.0?"

DeSantis is also doing more mainstream media interviews too, where he is being pressed on his differences with Trump and his record of challenging Democratic opponents and liberal-leaning companies which some supports admit doesn't play well with national voters.

“What the guy did in Florida doesn’t resonate well in America,” Hugh Culverhouse, a DeSantis donor, told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, which is part of the USA TODAY network.

Trump deals with Twitter search warrants, protective orders

Juggling a presidential campaign and multiple legal cases will be Donald Trump's life for at least the next several months, and this week underscores how dizzying that will be for voters and the country.

For starters, the Justice Department obtained the search warrant in January that directed Twitter, now known as X, to produce data and records related to his @realDonaldTrump account as part of its investigation.

A district court found “probable cause to search the Twitter account for evidence of criminal offenses," according to the appeals court opinion.

Beyond that revelation, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, citing concerns about harassment and intimidation of witnesses, imposed a protective order against Trump, who continues to use this Truth Social account to slam—some say threaten—political and legal opponents.

Chutkan said she will take whatever measures necessary to safeguard the integrity of the case, and scolded Trump's legal team, saying "your client’s defense is supposed to happen in this courtroom, not on the Internet."

Smith has requested that the judge set a trial date of Jan. 2, less than two weeks before the Iowa Caucuses.

Ohio referendum a proxy war on coming abortion fight

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its watershed decision overturning Roe v. Wade last year, the country has seen multiple states tackle the question of reproductive rights through ballot initiatives.

In 2022, there were six different ballot measures about abortion from California to Kansas, and the progressive side won each of those.

Ohio faces that question in November when a constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights will be on the ballot. But before that vote could happen the state GOP, led by Secretary of State Frank LaRose, introduced a plan to raise the needed votes to pass a new constitutional amendment to 60% instead of a simple 51% majority.

That idea went down in flames this week by a convincing 14 percent margin as Buckeye State voters rejected the plan, which Democrats and their allies believe is a good sign for the fall referendum.

A USA TODAY Network/Suffolk University survey of Ohio voters released in July found 58% supported the amendment, which would guarantee access to reproductive services if passed. That includes a third of Republicans and 85% of independent women.

Manchin dumping the Dems?

Joe Manchin has been flirting with the idea of breaking up with the Democratic Party for a minute now, and during a West Virginia radio appearance he explained why.

“The brand has become so bad," he said. "The ‘D’ brand and ‘R’ brand. In West Virginia, the ‘D’ brand because it’s nationally bad. It’s not the Democrats in West Virginia. It’s the Democrats in Washington or the Washington policies of the Democrats."

Manchin is one the most vulnerable Democrats up for reelection in 2024 despite his reputation as a more centrist lawmaker who has thwarted more liberal elements of the Biden administration's agenda. He hasn't announced if he's even running for another term, but he has talked up the possibility of running for president as an independent.

Biden to Congress: Can you spare a few billion for Ukraine?

President Joe Biden has pledged to help Ukraine for as long as it takes to win the war against Russia, and he is asking for another huge amount of money to back up that promise.

This time he wants more than $13 billion in emergency funding for military equipment and $8 billion for humanitarian support, which is part of a larger deal that also includes money for U.S. border security and disaster relief.

Americans are beginning to sour on U.S. involvement with a CNN poll released this month showing 55% believe Congress should not dole out more money for Ukraine.

That means a showdown with House Republicans, who have already expressed hesitance.

"I don't see House conservatives getting behind a request like this," Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Florida, said. "There's going to be some domestic things that members are going to want to see occur before we even go back down this rabbit hole again."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Week in politics: Trump hit with Twitter search warrant, protective order