The Senate overwhelmingly advanced a three-week spending bill Monday afternoon that would reopen the government. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said ahead of the vote that he had reached a deal with Republican leaders and that Democrats would vote in favor of the bill.
Senators voted 81-18 to end debate and move to a vote on final passage. If it's approved, the House will have to vote on the proposal. Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, signaled Sunday that the House would pass the bill.
Schumer said ahead of the procedural vote at noon that "we will vote today to reopen the government to continue negotiating" a global agreement with the commitment from GOP leaders that if there isn't a deal by the Feb. 8 deadline, the Senate will immediately proceed to legislation dealing with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Schumer said it will be "neutral and fair to all sides" that will get an up or down vote on the floor.
The government shutdown has remained in effect Monday, after senators failed to come to an agreement to end it late Sunday night. Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell attempted to schedule a vote Sunday night that would end the shutdown, but Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer objected.
McConnell had promised that if by Feb. 8, there is no agreement on immigration, the Senate would address DACA and border security, as well as increased defense spending. "Let's step back from the brink" and stop victimizing the American people and get back to work, McConnell argued.
House and Senate lawmakers met throughout the day Sunday to end the government shutdown as the impasse continued into the second day, with both chambers hoping to strike a deal on spending and immigration that would reopen federal agencies ahead of the work week.
Sunday morning, the fragile outlines of a potential deal seemed to be taking shape. On CBS News' "Face the Nation," House Speaker Paul Ryan said the lower chamber has agreed to accept a short-term deal that would fund the government through Feb. 8 if the Senate is able to pass such a bill.
On Saturday, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina suggested the bill that would fund the government in exchange for a commitment to move onto immigration after Feb. 8.
Where the shutdown stands on Day 3
Chuck Schumer announces Democrats will vote to reopen the government
McConnell commits to addressing DACA and border security on Feb. 8 if those issues have not been resolved
Ryan says House would support short-term deal
Trump calls on Senate to abolish filibuster
"After extensive discussions with Senators, on both sides of the aisle, I believe such a proposal would pass if it was understood that after February 8, the Senate would move to an immigration debate with an open amendment process if no agreement has been reached with the White House and House of Representatives," Graham said in a statement Saturday afternoon.
On Saturday, Republicans and Democrats failed to reach an agreement as federal agencies began implementing shutdown procedures. McConnell told reporters that lawmakers would be "right back at it" for "as long as it takes."
"We will keep at this until Democrats end their extraordinary filibuster of government funding and children's healthcare, and allow a bipartisan majority of Senators to reopen the federal government for all Americans and get Congress back on track," McConnell said Saturday on the Senate floor. Senate Democrats say they will not support a funding resolution that does not include protections for immigrants brought to the U.S. as children under the DACA program and spending for disaster relief.
Follow along below for updates on the shutdown. All times Eastern unless otherwise noted.
DAY 3 OF SHUTDOWN: Monday, Jan. 22
12:31 p.m. The Senate is currently voting on a 3-week CR
This requires 60 votes to advance and is expected to reach or surpass that threshold.
12:24 p.m. Chuck Schumer announces Democrats will back the 3-week CR during noon vote, vote to reopen the government
The Senate minority leader said that "we will vote today to reopen the government to continue negotiating" a global agreement with the commitment that if there isn't a deal by the Feb. 8 deadline, the Senate will immediately proceed to legislation dealing with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Schumer said it will be "neutral and fair to all sides" that will get an up or down vote on the floor.
Schumer said that Congress has "17 days to prevent the Dreamers from being deported."
He said that the reason the GOP had difficulty keeping the government open was because "they could never get a firm grip on what the president of their party wanted to do." Schumer said that Mr. Trump "turned away" from two bipartisan compromises that each would have averted a shutdown.
"My recent offer to the president was a generous one -- I put his signature campaign issue on the table in exchange for DACA," he said. "And still, he turned away."
The president's "unwillingness to compromise" caused the shutdown, said Schumer, who noted taht he hadn't spoken to Mr. Trump since their meeting on Friday in the Oval Office.
"The great deal-making president sat on the sidelines," Schumer said.
12:07 p.m. Senate Democrats positive ahead of key vote at noon
Moderate Senate Democrats who have participated in the bipartisan talks are sounding very positive about the upcoming vote as they depart the Democratic caucus meeting and head to the Senate Floor.
12:04 p.m. Jeff Flake expresses confidence Senate vote will lead to re-opening of government
I’m confident that with the senate vote at noon today we can reopen the govt and lay the groundwork for a DACA solution — Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) January 22, 2018
11:31 a.m. Steve Scalise is out of the hospital after his latest surgery
GOP members got the news during their conference meeting this morning. Scalise has apparently been texting his colleagues and consulting with leadership on decisions during this last hospital stay. No word on when exactly he will be back, but soon.
11:27 a.m. White House legislative affairs director Marc Short says House is "waiting on the Senate"
Short just walked out of the House GOP Conference meeting. He said off camera that the House is "basically just waiting on the Senate." He was asked if he thinks they'll be able to resolve the situation today, and Short responded "I hope so. We should know in the next few minutes."
11:13 a.m. Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, weighs in on the shutdown blame game
"I think ardent Republicans think Republicans are winning and ardent Democrats think Democrats are winning. And everybody else in America is kind of wondering how folks up here made it through the birth canal," Kennedy told reporters.
10:27 a.m. Susan Collins, Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham speak after meeting
Speaking to reporters, Collins, a moderate Maine Republican, said that she had hosted a meeting of what she calls the "Common Sense Coalition" Monday morning in which 25 senators -- both Republicans and Democrats -- attended. She said they've been working throughout the weekend to find a solution to the shutdown.
10:15 a.m. McConnell speaks on Senate floor ahead of key vote at noon
"Let me be clear: This immigration debate will have a level playing field at the outset, and an amendment process that is fair to all sides," Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says ahead of vote on plan to end government shutdown.
DAY 2 OF SHUTDOWN: Sunday, Jan. 21
9:15 p.m. Government remains shut down; vote scheduled for noon Monday
McConnell initially called for 10 p.m. vote to end the shutdown, and he announced that if by Feb. 8, there is no agreement on immigration, the Senate, assuming that the government remains open, would address DACA and border security, as well as increased defense spending. "Let's step back from the brink" and stop victimizing the American people and get back to work, McConnell said.
Schumer objected, however. He said that he was "happy to continue the conversation," but said that Democrats and the GOP had "yet to reach an agreement on a path forward."
McConnell, then called for a vote at noon tomorrow on ending the government shutdown.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, then stood to explain his vote against the 4-week deal on Friday. "We need to deal with this situation on immigration, and we shouldn't wait for the White House to express its preference," he said. But the majority picked up Flake's vote tonight. "We've worked with the majority leader," he said, and while the Feb. 8 deadline is "longer than I would like," it's still shorter than the 4-week spending bill that was defeated Friday.
8:42 p.m. Senators huddle in McConnell's office
Cornyn, Flake, Graham and McConnell met in the majority leader's office. Cornyn emerged from McConnell's office saying that he's more optimistic than he has been, although he declined to say specifically what was behind his renewed optimism.
7:55 p.m. Flake: Potential deal would involve commitment from McConnell to bring immigration bill to floor
Flake told reporters about a potential deal in which McConnell would commit publicly to bringing an immigration bill to the floor. According to CBS News' Walt Cronkite, Flake said leaders are still negotiating, and they have not yet reached the point at which a deal could be floated with their respective caucuses.
Flake said that if a deal is reached he thinks the Senate would vote as soon as possible, without holding any more caucus meetings or waiting until 1 a.m.
Flake is now in McConnell's office.
After a meeting of 22 moderates late Sunday afternoon, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, echoed GOP leaders in saying that if the shutdown isn't dealt with tonight, "it's going to get a lot harder tomorrow." Graham said that Flake would be voting yes on McConnell's proposal, which, he said, meant there were 52 votes for a deal. "To my Democratic friends," Graham said, "don't overplay your hand. The government shutdown is not a good way to get an outcome legislatively. We learned that as Republicans."
Eight Republicans and 14 Democrats/Independents met in Sen. Susan Collins's office to try to end the impasse, CBS News' John Nolen reports.
Republicans: Collins, of Maine; Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, of Tennessee; Flake, of Arizona; Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina; Johnny Isakson, of Georgia; Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska; and Mike Rounds, R-SD.
Democrats and Independents: Joe Manchin, of West Virginia; Coons, of Delaware; Joe Donnelly, of Indiana; Maggie Hassan, of New Hampshire; Heidi Heitkamp, of North Dakota; Doug Jones, of Alabama; Tim Kaine, of Virginia; Angus King, Independent from Maine; Amy Klobuchar, of Minnesota; Claire McCaskill, of Missouri; Bill Nelson, of Florida; Gary Peters, of Michigan; Jeanne Shaheen, of New Hampshire; and Mark Warner, of Virginia.
5:46 p.m.: Schumer, McConnell stay tight-lipped
Schumer and McConnell had a meeting Sunday evening -- but wouldn't tell reporters how negotiations are going.
"What's the score of the ballgame?" McConnell asked reporters as he walked back to his office.
4:24 p.m.: White House responds to negotiations
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says that President Trump had a "number of calls and received regular updates from his staff on a number of issues" during day two of the government shutdown.
Sanders noted that Mr. Trump has spoken to Secretaries Shulkin and Nielsen to receive updates on the impact of the government shutdown on their agencies. He also spoke with Leader McCarthy and Sen. John Cornyn.
She said that Chief of Staff John Kelly spoke with Ryan and McConnell and White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short spoke to "a number of Republican and Democrat members and their staff and has also updated the president."
"We are continuing to work hard towards reopening the government and making sure our great military and their families, vulnerable children and the American people are being taken care of," Sanders said in a statement.
In response to Sen. Schumer's recounting of his negotiations with Mr. Trump on the Senate floor Sunday, Sanders issued the following statement:
"Sen. Schumer's memory is hazy because his account of Friday's meeting is false. And the President's position is clear: we will not negotiate on the status of unlawful immigrants while Sen. Schumer and the Democrats hold the government for millions of Americans and our troops hostage."
3:17 p.m.: Rep. Kevin McCarthy: Shutdown gets "more serious" on Monday
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters that he's hoping the Senate will move something forward today because the shutdown becomes more serious Monday. "We're just hoping that calmer heads prevail, that in the Senate they see the action and move forward," he said.
He added, "If they take a week off the continuing resolution, we'll take that. And keep the government working, make sure Monday morning everything is up and running."
In regard to immigration talks, McCarthy said that negotiations could continue once the government reopens.
"We were having great meetings prior but unfortunately, the government got shut down. As soon as it opens, we'll go right back to our meetings," he said.
3 p.m.: Lawmakers talk shutdown negotiations
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, told reporters on Capitol Hill that he's "optimistic" about current negotiations over the funding of the federal government, but conceded that there's a "long way to go before we get there."
Meanwhile, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, said that lawmakers were "so close, it's ridiculous."
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, said a shutdown "should never ever be used as a bargaining chip for any issue period," and denounced it as "chemical warfare" that should be "banned."
"It hurts taxpayers, it hurts the military, it hurts our country."
Alexander said that there were a number of lawmakers who are "ready to go to work on funding for the military over two years, funding for the National Institutes of Health. We're close to agreement on that."
"The Alexander-Murray proposal to reduce insurance rates to children's health insurance plan, DACA, disaster aid. That's all there. We're on the 10 yard line," he added.
1:56 p.m.: Graham says Stephen Miller to blame for stalemate
Graham told reporters on Capitol Hill that he thinks Mr. Trump has his "heart right" on the issue of immigration reform, but says "every time we have a proposal it is only yanked back by staff members."
"As long as Stephen Miller is in charge of negotiating immigration we are going nowhere. He's been an outlier for years," added Graham, referring to the White House senior policy adviser, an immigration hardliner. Graham predicted that "there will be a breakthrough tonight, if there's going to be a one it will be tonight."
1:35 p.m.: Democrats hold press conference on status of shutdown
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says that Democrats could sign onto an agreement "in an hour," calling on the president to come to the negotiating table to resolve the shutdown. Democrats said they were committed to do what they can to ensure military members receive their paychecks during the government shutdown.
NOW: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other House Democrats address government shutdown. https://t.co/UAtZQDd4dV pic.twitter.com/42wM57dZ0k — CBS News (@CBSNews) January 21, 2018
1:18 p.m.: Schumer calls Trump a "dysfunctional president" on Senate floor
"This political catch-22 never seen before has driven our government to dysfunction," says Schumer of talks with Mr. Trump.
He says that the dysfunction in Washington creates the "chaos and gridlock we see today." He added that Mr. Trump's "inability to clinch a deal has created the Trump shutdown."
"He can't take 'yes' for an answer," said Schumer of Mr. Trump's position on immigration, adding that the president "walked away from two bipartisan deals" on a DACA fix.
Schumer slammed Mr. Trump as being "unwilling to compromise" but said he was "willing to seal the deal" and "sit and work right now" with the president or anyone he designates. "Let's get it done," he added.
Schumer then pivoted to U.S. military members being unpaid during the shutdown. He blamed McConnell for "preventing our troops from being paid."
"You don't want to use the troops as hostages. Some on the other side may be doing just that," he added.
1 p.m.: Senate back in session; McConnell speaks
The Senate resumes its negotiations on funding the federal government.
Dr. Barry Black, the Senate chaplain, opened the rare weekend session with a prayer for lawmakers as they "seek to resolve the problem of this government shutdown," asking to "remind them to the miscalculations in our history."
"Provide them with the faith to trust you to direct their steps as they discontinue the blame game and strive to do the most good for the most people. May our senators be grateful for the opportunity to serve you and country in these grand and challenging time," the chaplain prayed.
McConnell kicked off floor speeches by announcing if nothing changes in negotiations, a cloture vote will be "no sooner than 1 a.m." He warned the shutdown would be "much worse tomorrow."
"Today would be a good day to end it. All we have to do is pass the common sense legislation the Senate is currently considering. Ending a government shutdown and continuing health care for children. There is nothing in this measure that my Democrat friends cannot support," said McConnell.
McConnell noted however that the body can "resolve this much earlier" if Democrats withdraw a procedural objection and allow the Senate to proceed to a vote. McConnell said the immigration legislation attached to the spending bill was a "non-emergency" issue.
"Our constituents want us to end this. Secretary Mattis, our military leaders, and our governors want us to end this, and we can. Today is the right day to do it," he added.
12:05 p.m.: Durbin calls on Trump to "lead" during shutdown
Democratic Whip Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois called on the president to "step up and lead us" out of the government shutdown. On "Face the Nation," Durbin said that he was "sorry" lawmakers were in the current situation, adding that Senate Democrats were working on a funding deal "on a bipartisan basis."
Read more from Durbin's interview here.
12 p.m.: Mulvaney defends "cool" shutdown comments
Mick Mulvaney, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), defended comments he made on Sean Hannity's radio show Friday in which he said it was "kind of cool" to find out he was the person who technically shuts down the federal government. The OMB is responsible for overseeing shutdown procedures for federal agencies. He explained on "Face the Nation" that his comment was "interesting from an academic standpoint."
He added that the administration has been "very straight forward since the beginning that we don't want this shutdown."
Read more from Mulvaney's interview here.
10:42 a.m.: Ryan says House would support short-term spending deal
On "Face the Nation," Ryan said the House would accept a proposed bill that would fund the government through Feb. 8 if the Senate is able to pass such a measure. The House passed a bill to extend funding until Feb. 16 which the Senate rejected, kicking off the shutdown.
'What Leader McConnell is going to be offering is one that has a different date on it," Ryan told host John Dickerson. "We passed a bill keeping things funded until Feb. 16. He is going to bring up a bill keeping things funded until Feb. 8. We've agreed that we would accept that in the House. And so, we will see sometime today whether or not they have the votes for that. And that's really where we are right now."
9:30 a.m.: Pence tells troops he's confident shutdown will be "fixed"
While speaking to U.S. troops overseas during his visit to the Middle East on countering the Islamic State Group (ISIS), Vice President Mike Pence commented on the government shutdown, saying he was confident the administration was "going to get this fixed."
"The minority in the Senate decided to play politics with military pay, you deserve better," he told the troops. "You shouldn't have to worry one minute about if you're going to be paid."
"The reality is, the Democrat minority in the Senate decided to put politics ahead of their military pay," Vice President Mike Pence visited with troops at a base on the Syrian border, mentioning the government shutdown and how it affects military members' pay. pic.twitter.com/QmTXNfDXQK — CBS News (@CBSNews) January 21, 2018
Pence said that the administration won't negotiate a possible immigration deal with Democrats until "they give you and your families the wages you've earned."
"President Trump and I will do whatever it takes to defend you and your families. You can be confident we're going to get this fixed. We're going to meet our obligations to you and your families," added Pence.
8:25 a.m.: Sanders: Pentagon restores American Forces Network
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the American Forces Network has resumed service for those overseas serving in the U.S. military ahead of Sunday's NFL conference championship games.
The network provides TV and radio service to U.S. military members and their dependents stationed overseas, regularly broadcasting Sunday football games for fans in the military. The resource was deemed non-essential during the government shutdown and thus was subject to being turned off during the funding disputes.
Update: @DeptofDefense has informed us that AFN has been restored in most places. Glad our brave men and women can watch the game today. https://t.co/d424r1mBu2 — Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) January 21, 2018
The network restored service after backlash on social media over servicemembers' inability to watch Sunday's games.
Dana W. White, Chief DoD Spokesperson, said in a statement that "We will continue to find solutions to support our troops at home and abroad. Congress must come to a resolution, support our troops and pass a budget soon."
White added, "he shutdown requires us to do a lot of tedious work. Congress needs to pass a budget."
7:42 a.m.: Trump calls for nuclear option in Senate
Hours before Congress is set to reconvene, Mr. Trump again blamed Democrats for the shutdown and called on the Senate to eliminate the 60-vote threshold with the so-called "nuclear option" to abolish the filibuster:
Great to see how hard Republicans are fighting for our Military and Safety at the Border. The Dems just want illegal immigrants to pour into our nation unchecked. If stalemate continues, Republicans should go to 51% (Nuclear Option) and vote on real, long term budget, no C.R.’s! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2018
However, even with a threshold of 51 votes, it's not guaranteed Republican leaders in the Senate would be able to achieve a simple majority, given their razor-thin margin in the upper chamber.
CBS News' Alan He, Stefan Becket, Rebecca Shabad, Emily Tillett, Rebecca Kaplan and Walt Cronkite contributed to this report.
Watch the Senate vote on a spending bill that would end the government shutdown for now.
As the federal government shutdown enters its third day, the Senate is slated to take the floor at noon on Monday to vote on a spending bill. The government shut down at midnight Friday after Republicans and Democrats failed to reach a deal to fund the government. Democrats are trying to push Republicans and the Trump administration to work with them on a legislative fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which protects nearly 700,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children.
Senators will meet again at 10 am EST Monday ahead of a vote scheduled for noon EST. You can watch the proceedings live on Facebook and C-SPAN.
Democrats and Republicans spent the weekend in a back-and-forth of simultaneous finger-pointing and negotiations (and, on Sunday, some playoff football). Friday’s Senate vote on the spending bill that the House of Representatives passed on Thursday saw not only Democrats but also a handful of Republicans voting against the bill. Monday, the Senate is giving it another go.
What is going to the floor?
The Monday vote is on a three-week spending bill that would expire on February 8, one week before the February 16 deadline of the House-passed bill. The idea behind it is that it will give Republicans and Democrats time to reach an agreement on a path forward for an immigration deal, which would presumably include some sort of fix for DACA.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor outlined the general contours of an agreement, which would include a pledge to open an immigration debate after February 8, the expiration of the Senate’s revised spending bill, if an agreement is not reached before.
How will the vote work?
Getting the spending bill through the Senate requires 60 votes and therefore some Democratic buy-in, because there are only 51 Republicans in the Senate. On Friday, 45 Senate Democrats and five Senate Republicans voted against the bill.
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who voted against the short-term funding bill on Friday, are expected to now vote yes. Five Senate Democrats voted for the previous bill, but more Democratic votes will be required if it is to pass the Senate on Monday. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who is undergoing cancer treatment, will not vote.
President Donald Trump over the weekend called for the Senate to invoke the “nuclear option,” which would entail McConnell changing Senate rules to pass a spending deal with 51 votes. McConnell has shown no interest in doing so.
Great to see how hard Republicans are fighting for our Military and Safety at the Border. The Dems just want illegal immigrants to pour into our nation unchecked. If stalemate continues, Republicans should go to 51% (Nuclear Option) and vote on real, long term budget, no C.R.’s! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2018
What’s the problem?
At the center of the shutdown is a debate over immigration — Vox’s Tara Golshan and Dara Lind have a complete explainer of the contours of the issue.
Essentially, Democrats want a guarantee that Congress will pass a bill to protect DREAMers — undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children. They are worried that Republicans will keep kicking the can down the road on DACA, leaving the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the balance.
Many Republicans say that they support a DACA fix but don’t think it has anything to do with government funding. Further complicating the matter is President Trump. He says he wants other concessions on immigration — an end to the visa diversity lottery and a crackdown on what he calls “chain migration” — but his exact demands seem to change constantly.
What happens during a shutdown?
The shutdown doesn’t mean all governmental operations cease entirely, just those deemed “nonessential” activities. The mail will keep coming, and Social Security checks will go out. But passport processing applications will come to a halt, and most federal employees will be furloughed.
Federal employees are divided into “essential” and “nonessential” groups. Nonessential personnel receive furloughs, meaning they’re off work until the shutdown is resolved and stop receiving paychecks. Essential workers have to go to work anyway, but they’re not paid for it. Once the shutdown ends, furloughed and non-furloughed workers alike generally are paid retroactively to cover their salaries during a shutdown.
Who shuts down the government?
The Office of Management and Budget is in charge of implementing and running the shutdown. In an interview last week, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney seemed entertained by the prospect. “I found out for the first time last night that the person who technically shuts down the government down is me, which is kind of cool,” he said in a Friday radio interview with conservative commentator Sean Hannity.
Does Congress get paid during the shutdown?
Yes, although some members of Congress have said they will donate their pay during the shutdown.
How does the shutdown end?
If the Senate passes a funding bill on Monday, it will return to the House of Representatives for another vote. House Speaker Paul Ryan said in an interview on Fox News Monday that a Senate-passed bill will pass the House.
The passage of a funding bill would reopen the government, and the shutdown process would essentially reverse itself.
How to watch
Time: The Senate vote will be taking a vote at noon EST on Monday, January 22.
Live stream: You can watch the proceedings live on Facebook and C-SPAN.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks on his cellphone as he walks out of the Capitol last night. (Oliver Contreras for The Washington Post)
With Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve.
THE BIG IDEA: The failed efforts this weekend by moderates to end the government shutdown underscored how poisoned the well has become.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell postponed a largely symbolic vote that was scheduled for 1 a.m. so that his members wouldn’t need to sit around all night. The roll call vote will now take place around noon.
There is some optimism about a deal that could reopen the government until Feb. 8, but it’s also possible that this three-day-old shutdown could drag on for a while.
Either way, the impasse foreshadows how little will get done legislatively in the 10 months before the midterm elections.
“Our country was founded by geniuses, but it’s being run by idiots,” Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters on Friday night.
Republican leaders have already punted many items on their wish list, specifically related to overhauling entitlements — the ultimate third rail in American politics.
Trump still hopes to pass an infrastructure package this year, but the shutdown makes that less likely. Conservatives say that they will only support more spending if environmental and labor regulations are rolled back, which will make it impossible for all but a few Democrats to get on board.
Democrats are going to the mat on this spending fight because they know it is very unlikely House Republicans would ever pass a stand-alone bill to protect the “dreamers,” undocumented immigrants who were brought here as children. They are frustrated that they were cut out of negotiations to overhaul the tax code, which passed last month on a party-line vote.
Trump called on Senate Republicans Sunday to go totally “nuclear,” changing the rules so they can pass any legislation with a simple majority of 50 votes, plus Mike Pence’s tiebreaking vote. Hard-liners like Ted Cruz, the architect of the 2013 shutdown, endorsed the idea. But McConnell and other old bulls who have spent decades in the minority continue to resist this push because they understand that, over the long-term, turning the Senate into a majoritarian body like the House would benefit liberals much more than conservatives.
One big exception is judges. McConnell changed the chamber’s rules last year to stop a filibuster of Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Republicans continue to break with century-old norms to pack the lower courts, from disregarding blue slips to ignoring the recommendations of bipartisan commissions in the states. They plan to keep advancing judicial nominees during the shutdown.
-- A big reason that the prospects for putting points on the board this year are so poor is that Trump is an unreliable negotiating partner. “Negotiating with President Trump is like negotiating with Jell-O,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer complained Saturday. “It’s next to impossible.”
He’s not alone in feeling this way. Republicans were freaked out that Trump would cut a deal with Schumer when the two met alone on Friday. McConnell publicly expressed frustration last week, before the shutdown, that he didn’t know what Trump wanted: “I’m looking for something that President Trump supports, and he’s not yet indicated what measure he’s willing to sign.”
Trump even undercuts his own staff. During a bipartisan meeting at the White House led by the president two weeks ago, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen passed out a four-page document on the administration’s “must haves” for any immigration bill. The list included $18 billion for a border wall, eliminating the diversity visa lottery program and ending “extended family chain migration.”
“But one person seemed surprised and alarmed by the memo: the president,” Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey and Ed O’Keefe reported on the Sunday front page. “With Democrats and Republicans still in the room, Trump said that the document didn’t represent all of his positions, that he wasn’t familiar with its contents and that he didn’t appreciate being caught off-guard. He instructed the group to disregard the summary and move on, according to one of the lawmakers in the room … ‘It’s like the wedding where someone actually stands up and objects to the wedding,’ the lawmaker said. ‘It was that moment.’”
The uncertainty that Trump creates makes it hard to hold coalitions together. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) declined to say, for instance, that he would vote for any immigration deal that the president negotiates. “I can’t make that commitment at all,” he said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) walks to the chamber yesterday. (Oliver Contreras for The Washington Post)
-- Trump’s own aides have privately diagnosed the president with “defiance disorder” to describe his apparent compulsion to do whatever it is his advisers are most strongly urging against, forcing them to clean up the chaos he creates. That’s according to a book by Fox News host Howard Kurtz that will come out next week. Two other nuggets from “Media Madness,” via Ashley Parker:
“In late July, the White House had just finished an official policy review on transgender individuals serving in the military and President Trump and his then-chief of staff, Reince Priebus, had agreed to meet in the Oval Office to discuss the four options awaiting the president in a decision memo. But then Trump unexpectedly preempted the conversation and sent his entire administration scrambling, by tweeting out his own decision — that the government would not allow transgender individuals to serve — just moments later. ‘Oh my God, he just tweeted this,’ Priebus said …
Steve Bannon told Trump when he left the White House in August that his main goal back at Breitbart would be “to bring [McConnell] down.” “Trump said that was fine, that Bannon should go ahead,” Kurtz writes.
WHERE NEGOTIATIONS STAND:
-- A proposal from a bipartisan group of moderates to link a three-week extension of government funding to the consideration of an immigration bill in the Senate prompted McConnell to announce that he would be willing to start debating immigration legislation if an agreement was not otherwise reached by early February. "But the pledge came with caveats that led senior Democratic aides to question whether it would ultimately be workable," Robert Costa, Erica Werner, Mike DeBonis and Sean Sullivan report:
“Whether Republicans can find compromise on immigration remained as uncertain as ever Sunday, with no clear backing from House Republican leaders or President Trump, who showed no sign of retreating from his hard line on immigration.
“The White House has said it supports the plan for funding through Feb. 8 but has been wary of making concessions on immigration. While legislation protecting DACA recipients could probably move through the Senate with Democrats and a handful of Republicans supporting it, Trump has rejected proposals along those lines and House GOP leaders are under fierce pressure not to bring up any bill that a majority of Republicans would reject . . .
“Democrats said they made a significant concession over the weekend, agreeing to put major funding behind Trump’s promised border wall … Schumer on Sunday said that in a Friday meeting, Trump ‘picked a number for the wall, and I accepted it.’ … Republicans themselves scoffed at Schumer’s claim that he offered Trump precisely what was demanded. The Democratic offer, they said, fell short of the full, immediate funding the president sought and instead involved yearly installments of funding that could be subject to future shutdown threats.”
-- Trump kept a relatively low profile over the weekend, suppressing his instincts to place himself squarely in the center of the action even as he remained glued to the television. Josh Dawsey and Ashley Parker report: “[The president] was buoyed by aides doing a full television blitz — a public strategy partially prepared by West Wing officials who were worried that Trump would be inclined to strike a deal quickly if the media coverage turned poor. [But] as Trump has watched the nonstop television coverage of the shutdown, he has bounced from grousing to aides that he will be blamed for the shutdown, to asking aloud if he should try to end it, to saying Republicans are in a better spot than Democrats and citing polls that show as much...
"He complained about not going to Florida for the weekend ... while also telling advisers his administration was doing better on handling the shutdown than Obama’s did in 2013 … The president has also grown intimately involved in trying to shape the media coverage, commenting on TV appearances, watching hours of footage, and remarking to friends how the shutdown is playing.”
Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney speaks during a news briefing on Saturday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
THE IMPACT:
-- The effects of the shutdown over the weekend were relatively limited, but it will become much more visible today with the start of the workweek as hundreds of thousands of federal workers stay home. OMB Director Mick Mulvaney said Sunday he's working to make this shutdown less noticeable and “dramatic” than the previous one in 2013.
-- Mulvaney’s position represents a complete reversal from 2013, when, as a House Republican, he participated in the conservative rebellion that led to the last shutdown. Damian Paletta and Mike DeBonis report: “Mulvaney is the lone senior White House official with significant shutdown experience, but he doesn’t see his role as trying to appease Democrats. Rather, he’s become a central messenger in making it clear that the White House won’t negotiate changes to immigration laws or anything else until Democrats vote to reopen the government. And while the government is shut, he will work to minimize that impact as much as he can.”
-- The shutdown will also have a significant effect on the D.C. region’s workforce. Michael E. Miller and Faiz Siddiqui report: “Up to a quarter of the region’s workforce of 3.2 million people could be affected by the shutdown, according to Stephen S. Fuller, an economist at George Mason University. He noted that 367,000 federal employees and 450,000 federal contractors live in the Washington area. He said 25 percent to 30 percent of the region’s economy is dependent on federal payroll or procurement spending.”
-- U.S. troops were able to watch last night’s NFL games after the Pentagon moved to designate the American Forces Network as “essential.” All active-duty personnel are required to continue their duties, but they will not be paid until after the shutdown ends. (Jacob Bogage and Cindy Boren)
-- Most Washington tourist destinations remained open over the weekend. Peter Jamison reports: Some sites — including open-air parks and Arlington National Cemetery — are expected to be open through the duration of the shutdown, while others — like the National Archives — have already been closed. (Fritz Hahn, Maura Judkis and Stephanie Merry compiled a list of the D.C. museums that will remain open if the shutdown drags on.)
-- State governments are stepping in to keep their own monuments open to the public. Jeff Stein reports: “On Sunday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D-N.Y.) announced that Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty would stay open on the state’s dime under an agreement struck with the Interior Department. Arizona has similarly said it will ensure the Grand Canyon remains open — whether the federal government reopens or not. … [But] dozens of other federally managed sites could close in the coming days.”
Stephen Miller, Trump's senior policy adviser, walks through the colonnades of the White House. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
THE IMMIGRATION DEBATE:
-- Ashley Parker and Josh Dawsey profile Stephen Miller, Trump's 32-year-old point man on immigration: “Miller, one of the few remaining original advisers to President Trump, invited a small group of writers and editors from Breitbart News to the White House last fall for a conversation on immigration. The conservative news website — headed at the time by [Steve Bannon] — has been a steadfast cheerleader for Trump and his nationalist anti-immigration agenda. But Miller’s goal on this occasion was to sell the group on a compromise: a possible deal offering protections to the young undocumented immigrants known as ‘dreamers’ in exchange for tougher immigration provisions, such as an end to family-sponsored migration. The discussion quickly turned into a shouting match — an expletive-laden ‘blowup,’ according to one person familiar with the gathering. … The combative conversation illustrates Miller’s influential yet delicate role within the administration — a true believer in restrictionist immigration policies attempting to broker a historic deal on behalf of a president with similarly hawkish, but far more flexible, positions.
“Miller has come to be widely viewed — unfairly, White House officials argue — as something of a puppeteer, helping to shape and scuttle deals for a president who doesn’t understand — or care to understand — the details. … [He] tells others that Trump has two main goals when it comes to immigration policy: to move from a low-skilled or unskilled immigration system to a merit-based, high-skilled one and to ensure that the nation’s immigration laws are enforced.”
-- Trump’s reelection campaign released a web video accusing Democrats of being responsible for “every murder” committed by an undocumented immigrant. It opens with a clip from a courtroom outburst by Luis Bracamontes, an undocumented immigrant accused of killing two California cops four years ago. “Now Democrats who stand in our way will be complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants,” a narrator says. “President Trump will fix our border and keep our families safe.” White House legislative affairs director Marc Short said the video was made by an outside group when Chuck Todd pressed him about it on “Meet the Press” Sunday, but the video literally ends with the president saying: “I'm Donald Trump, and I approve this message.”
-- David Nakamura notes the different terminology deployed by conservatives and liberals in the immigration debate reflects how entrenched each side has become: “On the right, Trump and his allies have warned of the dangers of ‘chain migration,’ railed against ‘amnesty’ for lawbreakers and urged a shift toward a ‘merit-based’ system. … On the left, advocates have defended a tradition of ‘family reunification’ and cast undocumented immigrants who arrived as children as ‘dreamers’ and ‘kids’ in need of special care — even though some are in their mid-30s. … The starkly different terms show why it’s so hard for Washington to agree on major immigration reform. For years, over several administrations, the two sides have accused each other of being unable or unwilling to accurately name the problem with a system they agree is broken.”
-- “That this issue could shutter the government speaks to the powerful hold the immigration issue has on both parties’ most enthusiastic voters — to Democrats’ vision of themselves as a party of inclusion and to Republicans’ vision of themselves as defending the very idea of what it means to be an American,” writes Bloomberg’s Sahil Kapur.
-- Amid the charged debate, legal immigrants from Latin American are avoiding public-health services out of fear that their information would be used to deport undocumented relatives. The AP’s Kelli Kennedy reports: “Hispanic immigrants are not only declining to sign up for health insurance under programs that began or expanded under [Obama’s] presidency — they’re also not seeking treatment when they’re sick, [experts] say. ‘One social worker said she had a client who was forgoing chemotherapy because she had a child that was not here legally,’ said Oscar Gomez, chief executive of Health Outreach Partner, a national training and advocacy organization.”
THE POLITICS:
-- Five Senate Democrats, all from states Trump carried, voted to avoid a government shutdown: Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin III (W.Va.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.) and Doug Jones (Ala.). All but Jones are on the ballot this November.
-- Democratic operatives concede the impasse — if it comes to be seen as a fight over immigration — holds risks for vulnerable senators, even if they voted to keep the government open. From David Weigel, Ed O'Keefe and Jenna Portnoy: “A super PAC allied with Senate Democrats commissioned a poll in 12 battleground states in early December 2017, and it found that in more conservative states, blame for a shutdown would be split between Trump and Republicans and Democrats in Congress. But when interviewers asked respondents about a shutdown that might be tied to the legal status of dreamers, Democrats absorbed more blame. The poll was conducted by Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group on behalf of the Senate Majority PAC.”
-- But the liberal base is ginned up. Weigel reports from a women’s march in Las Vegas this weekend: “In Democratic thinking, Nevada had become Exhibit A in how the party could overwhelm Republican voters by activating the base. It started with [former senator Harry Reid’s 2010 reelection win], the first time that a Democrat had raised the profile of ‘dreamers[.]’ … The lesson Democrats and activists took from the race was that they could force fights on complicated issues, like immigration and gun violence, if they gave them human faces. … At Sunday’s rally, and around Las Vegas, organizers were working once again to make dreamers famous.”
-- If this shutdown follows the pattern of the past two, neither party will suffer long-term consequences. FiveThirtyEight’s Harry Enten notes: “[After the 1995/1996 shutdown,] Republicans recovered on the generic ballot by February 1996, just a month after the final shutdown of that period ended. And in the elections later that year, they held onto their majorities in both the House and Senate. Clinton, meanwhile, recovered his lost support by March 1996. He would go on to easily win reelection later in 1996. Basically, America put the same people who shut the government down back in office.”
-- House conservatives are happy with how Paul Ryan has held firm. Politico’s Rachael Bade reports: “Rank-and-file Republicans — including some of his fiercest critics on the right flank — are applauding Ryan’s unwavering position[.] … His stance, in a nutshell: As long as the government's closed, there will be no immigration negotiations. Conservatives say he’s stayed true to the conference in refusing to commit the House to voting on a bipartisan Senate immigration deal that might divide their own ranks, as Senate Democrats have demanded.”
-- The president’s son, Eric, said on Fox News that the shutdown is “a good thing for us.” “The only reason [Democrats] want to shut down government is to distract and to stop [the president’s] momentum,” he said. (HuffPost)
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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:
A woman holds a sign encouraging voters during the Women's March rally in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Reuters)
-- A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Democrats leading the generic ballot question by 12 points, driven by support from women and independents. Scott Clement reports: “By 51 percent to 39 percent, more registered voters say they would support the Democratic candidate in their congressional district over the Republican. Democrats’ 12 percentage-point advantage on this ‘generic ballot’ question is the largest in Post-ABC polling since 2006, although it is slightly larger than other polls this month. … The Post-ABC poll finds Democrats holding a 57 percent to 31 percent advantage among female voters, double the size of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s margin in the 2016 election. … [S]elf-identified political independents favor Democrats by a 16-point margin, 50 percent to 34 percent. The swing group has been decisive in three consecutive midterm election waves[.]” See the whole poll here.
Alshon Jeffery of the Eagles celebrates after scoring a 53-yard touchdown against the Vikings. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
-- The Philadelphia Eagles crushed the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC championship game to advance to the Super Bowl. Kimberley A. Martin reports: “Behind a surgical passing performance by Nick Foles, a masterful defensive effort led by defensive end Chris Long and a pair of touchdown catches by wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, the Eagles cruised to a 38-7 win."
-- The Eagles will face the New England Patriots, who came back in the fourth quarter of the AFC championship game to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars. Mark Maske reports: “[Tom] Brady threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Danny Amendola as the Patriots came back to beat the Jaguars, 24-20, in a competitive AFC championship game at Gillette Stadium. They will seek a sixth Super Bowl triumph in eight tries with Brady as their quarterback and Bill Belichick as their coach in two weeks in Minneapolis.”
GET SMART FAST:
This year’s flu season, which is especially bad and has already caused the deaths of 20 children, is being complicated by the fallout from Hurricane Maria. Nearly half of the IV saline bags used to treat severe cases of the flu in the United States are produced in Puerto Rico, which is still reeling from the disaster. (Morten Wendelbo and Christine Crudo Blackburn) After four months of gridlock, Germany appears to be nearing a resolution on a coalition government. The vote by a convention of the center-left Social Democrats cleared a key hurdle in the creation of a governing coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Christian Democratic Union after inconclusive September elections. (Griff Witte) Apple CEO Tim Cook said he wouldn’t want his nephew to use social media. He is the latest in a string of tech leaders to sound the alarm about excessive use of technology and its effects on society, particularly kids. (Business Insider) Facebook’s government outreach director acknowledged the platform does not always contribute positively to democracy. “From the Arab Spring to robust elections around the globe, social media seemed like a positive,” Katie Harbath wrote in a blog post. “The last US presidential campaign changed that, with foreign interference that Facebook should have been quicker to identify to the rise of ‘fake news’ and echo chambers.” Amazon is opening its first convenience store today in Seattle. The technology-fueled minimart, known as “Amazon Go,” has no cashiers, no registers and no lines — instead, shoppers are charged in real time by “virtual baskets” and exit through a subway-like turnstile gate where their accounts are automatically billed. It’s being dubbed as the “store of the future.” (New York Times) Ruth Bader Ginsburg recounted some of her own experiences with sexual harassment during an interview at the Sundance Film Festival. She also said she’d seen SNL’s “Gins-burn” parody. “I liked the actress who portrayed me,” she declared, referring to Kate McKinnon. "And I would like to say, 'Gins-burrrrn.'" (CNN) Dan Rather will debut a weekly news program on the Young Turks Network, a progressive online site. The former CBS anchor says the show, which premieres this evening, will focus “on substance” with “no bells and whistles.” (CNN) A woman died after falling several decks from the balcony of her cruise ship cabin. The tragedy occurred aboard the ship Carnival Elation during a four-day Bahamas cruise from Jacksonville. (Fox News) A fifth-grader in New Mexico accidentally offered gummies laced with marijuana to her classmates. The 9-year-old who brought what she thought was candy from home, went to the nurse’s office after eating five of them and feeling dizzy. (Kristine Phillips)
National security adviser H.R. McMaster watches President Trump in the White House. (Saul Loeb/Getty Images)
ESCALATION IN AFGHANISTAN:
-- The U.S. Army is readying plans to send as many as 1,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan this spring, adding to the 14,000 forces already in the country. Greg Jaffe and Missy Ryan report: “Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has not signed off on the proposals for the new forces, which are part of a broader strategy to bolster Afghan forces so that they can pound the Taliban during the upcoming fighting season. The possible increases have the support of the Army’s senior leadership, which has been working to determine the mix of troops required to execute a strategy centered on a new combat formation.”
-- At least 18 people were killed in Kabul after Taliban attackers led an overnight siege at an international hotel overlooking the capital. Sharif Hassan and Pamela Constable report: “Unofficial reports cited by Tolo TV, the country’s most respected news channel, put the death toll as high as 43. The report could not be confirmed. Officials said 160 people, including 41 foreigners, were rescued from the hotel by special police forces. The nationalities of those victims were not immediately known, but a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said most of the foreigners worked for Kam Air, a private Afghan airline, and one was from Ukraine.”
-- H.R. McMaster has tapped Nadia Schadlow, a longtime colleague and member of the National Security Council, to replace Dina Powell as deputy national security adviser. She is a rare academic in Trump’s West Wing, which could leave McMaster even more isolated in his role. (Politico)
-- The Trump administration currently plans to send 15 top-ranking officials to this week's World Economic Forum in Davos. The Finance 202’s Tory Newmyer will be there: “Trump himself is set to cap off the conference with a Friday speech, the first appearance there by a president since Bill Clinton in 2000. … The plethora of Trump attendees could be jarring in a week when their government may still be shut down … But the bigger question is whether the Trump Davos army is coming to promote the president's ‘America First’ agenda, or speak more diplomatically with a world community still trying to grapple with this administration.” Sign up to get the newsletter in your inbox here.
PENCE'S MIDDLE EAST ADVENTURE:
-- The king of Jordan delivered pointed remarks to Vice President Pence about the Trump administration’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Jenna Johnson and Loveday Morris report: “At a meeting at his palace … [King Abdullah II] said that he had been encouraged by [Trump’s] commitment to bringing a solution to decades of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians — but that Jerusalem is key to achieving peace. ‘I had continuously voiced over the past year, in my meetings with Washington, my concerns regarding the U.S. decision on Jerusalem that does not come as a result of a comprehensive settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,’ he said[.] … He added that it is ‘very important’ to find a way to move forward with a two-state solution, with East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state formed on pre-1967 borders, living side by side with a ‘secure and recognized’ Israel. ‘Your visit here, I am sure, is to rebuild the trust and confidence,’ he said.”
Later, Pence visited U.S. troops at a military facility near the Syrian border, where he sought to blame Senate Democrats for the government shutdown. “I’m sure you’re all aware of what’s going on in Washington, D.C.,” Pence said. “Despite bipartisan support for a budget resolution, a minority in the Senate has decided to play politics with military pay. But you deserve better. You and your families shouldn’t have to worry for one minute about whether you’re going to get paid because you serve in the uniform of the United States. So know this: Your president, your vice president and the American people are not going to put up with it.”
“American elected officials typically do not engage in political speech when addressing members of the armed services. When asked about that later by a reporter, Pence paused and then said the troops are ‘Americans who are literally paying the price.’ He added: ‘I wanted these soldiers to know that we are with them’ and that ‘we’re going to work earnestly to move this process forward[.]'”
-- As Pence visits Israel, the New York Times’s Max Fisher writes the administration’s consistently pro-Israel views are rooted in America’s culture wars: “Bitter debates over terrorism and tolerance, polarized along demographic and partisan lines, have primed a faction of Americans to express their identity in part through solidarity with Israelis and opposition to Palestinians. Politicians have long catered to this view, but Mr. Trump is first to make it official policy. Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and threatening to close the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, though never quite explained in foreign policy terms, resonate domestically.”
-- Turkey has launched a ground offensive against U.S.-backed Kurdish militias in northern Syria. Erin Cunningham and Louisa Loveluck report: “The land operation by Turkish forces, which began Sunday morning, comes as Turkey intensified air and artillery strikes over the weekend on the Syrian Kurdish enclave Afrin.”
Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.) speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
THE #METOO MOMENT:
-- A member of the House Ethics Committee, Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.), settled his own sexual misconduct case with public funds, the New York Times’s Katie Rogers and Kenneth P. Vogel report: “A married father of three, Mr. Meehan, 62, had long expressed interest in the personal life of [a former aide], who was decades younger and had regarded the congressman as a father figure, according to three people who worked with the office and four others with whom she discussed her tenure there. But after the woman became involved in a serious relationship with someone outside the office last year, Mr. Meehan professed his romantic desires for her — first in person, and then in a handwritten letter — and he grew hostile when she did not reciprocate, the people familiar with her time in the office said. Life in the office became untenable, so she initiated the complaint process, started working from home and ultimately left the job.”
-- Meehan has been removed from the ethics committee, where he said he wanted to combat sexual harassment in Congress. Elise Viebeck reports: “[He] now faces an investigation by the ethics panel, according to a spokeswoman for [Paul Ryan] . . . ‘Speaker Ryan takes the allegations against Mr. Meehan very seriously,’ AshLee Strong said in an emailed statement. ‘The speaker is committed to rooting out sexual misconduct in the House and providing victims the resources they need.’”
Stormy Daniels arrives for the Grammy Awards in 2007. (Matt Sayles/AP)
WE'RE LIVING IN A REALITY TELEVISION SHOW:
-- “Year 2 of the Trump presidency began here overnight much like Year 1 had ended: with his alleged ex-mistress smashing people’s faces into her bare chest at a strip club between an airport and a cemetery,” Dan Zak reports from Greenville, S.C. on Stormy Daniels's weekend performances. “‘HE SAW HER LIVE,’ the Trophy Club’s flier said. ‘YOU CAN TOO!’ … A normal Saturday at the Trophy Club brings in 100 to 150 people — and for a while on Saturday it seemed at least double that. ‘Making America Horny Again,’ said a big sign outside, a play on Trump’s campaign slogan. Inside there was patriotic bunting on the brass railings. Red, white and blue balloons floated above each sticky table. … Daniels spread out a taupe fleece blanket onstage, dropped to her knees, arched her back and began to squirt a bottle of lotion onto her chest to the sound of ‘Animal’ by Def Leppard, as the president’s face flashed on video screens behind her.”
-- “The music came on. The clothes came off. And an airport strip club claimed its piece of the American presidency,” adds the New York Times’s Matt Flegenheimer. “Dancers pawed playfully at their prey, flipping their hair at patrons like a fishing line. ‘All right — one,’ a member of the news media relented eventually, disappearing for a few minutes as a dancer led him to a back room. She returned a short while later to flip her hair at the other scribes. Other requests were less typical of the place. Suzanne Coe, 52, a local pub owner, hoped Ms. Clifford might sign her copy of ‘Fire and Fury,’ by Michael Wolff[.]”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) arrives for a meeting last week. (Andrew Harnik/AP)
THERE’S A BEAR IN THE WOODS:
-- The FBI says it has not even seen the so-called "memo" that allegedly details abuses by the intelligence community. House Republicans have been demanding that the document, which they created to score political points, be "released" to the public. The Daily Beast’s Betsy Woodruff reports: “‘The FBI has requested to receive a copy of the memo in order to evaluate the information and take appropriate steps if necessary. To date, the request has been declined,’ said Andrew Ames, a spokesperson for the FBI. … The fact that Republicans refuse to show the memo to FBI, which characterizes the intelligence they shared with Nunes, has Democrats concerned. One aide [said] it means Nunes’ efforts are just politics.”
-- The FBI also said it did not retain messages exchanged between two senior officials involved in the probes of Hillary Clinton and Trump for a period that spanned five months — and ended the day Robert Mueller was tapped to take over the Russia investigation. Devlin Barrett reports: “The letter from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray indicates the Justice Department has turned over to lawmakers a new batch of texts from senior FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page. The messages have not been made public. … The lawmaker is asking the FBI to explain in more detail why it ‘did not preserve text messages between Ms. Page and Mr. Strzok between approximately December 14, 2016 and May 17, 2017.’” Both Strzok and Page have been accused of political bias by Republicans in their investigations of Clinton and Trump.
SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ:
A Senate Democrat sought to offer a preemptive defense for today's shutdown vote:
Context for tomorrow's vote to "end the shutdown": Democrats offered motion after motion this weekend to reopen government. Republicans objected every time. https://t.co/tgWZSmI26j — Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 22, 2018
From Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.):
THIS is the poster that @HouseDemocrats tried to prevent me from displaying on the House floor earlier today. They do not want the American people to know the facts about the #SchumerShutdown. RT this to make sure their hypocrisy gets out. pic.twitter.com/QMmPXALn9u — Rep. Bradley Byrne (@RepByrne) January 21, 2018
A House Republican who is running for Senate in Arizona requested to have her salary withheld during the shutdown:
Earlier today, I sent a letter to the Chief Administrative Officer to withhold my pay during the current gov't shutdown. I cannot in good faith get paid while our troops and border patrol agents worry if their families will be able to afford groceries and gas. #SchumerShutdown pic.twitter.com/C8YOvvPv51 — Martha McSally (@RepMcSally) January 21, 2018
The conservative editor of the Weekly Standard, Bill Kristol, criticized the vice president for making partisan remarks while addressing troops abroad:
Depressing. The Vice President, visiting American troops abroad, uses them as props for a partisan political message. pic.twitter.com/kneb95jq0d — Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) January 21, 2018
From Joe Biden's former chief of staff:
I worked for two Democratic VPs; @BillKristol was CoS for VP Quayle. None of them would have given a speech like this, abroad, with troops as a prop. https://t.co/8tjfAnRmcv — Ronald Klain (@RonaldKlain) January 21, 2018
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) tried to make sure death benefits would be delivered to military families during a shutdown, but McConnell blocked her proposal:
Early this morning, @clairecmc tried to pass a bill to guarantee military pay and death benefits in the #TrumpShutdown.
Republican Leader Mitch McConnell: I object. WATCH: pic.twitter.com/n3a7RBaxzi — Senate Democrats (@SenateDems) January 20, 2018
Crowds gathered across the country to mark the anniversary of the Women's March:
Austin, TX broke the record for largest gathering in Texas history. #WomensMarch2018 pic.twitter.com/0RHx6s3fGz — Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) January 20, 2018
From a reporter in Denver:
Thousands of people made their way through the streets of downtown Denver on Saturday during the second annual Women’s March https://t.co/gfX16A3MzH via @Denverite pic.twitter.com/2RAAY4BPC3 — Adrian D. Garcia (@adriandgarcia) January 20, 2018
From a Yahoo News reporter:
From a correspondent for Time:
In case you needed more evidence that this movement is growing https://t.co/whDzz7TudZ — Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) January 22, 2018
From actress Alyssa Milano:
This—this right here—is what democracy looks like.
It doesn’t happen automatically. It demands our action and participation. It challenges us, but it also empowers us.
Because, at the end of the day, it is us. pic.twitter.com/vkxKWTRcnq — Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) January 21, 2018
From Politico's media reporter:
Shutdown is obviously huge story. But still striking the major Sunday shows booked more than dozen lawmakers/officials the morning after massive women's march and none were women: https://t.co/FIYkGlFfo9 — Michael Calderone (@mlcalderone) January 21, 2018
From the New York Times columnist:
By the way, if you're wondering why coverage of the huge marches yesterday seems kind of muted, it's because those hundreds of thousands weren't sitting in diners in small-town America, and therefore don't count. Also many of them were women. — Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) January 21, 2018
More gymnasts testified in the sentencing hearing for sports doctor Larry Nassar. From the executive editor of the Lansing State Journal:
This photo is worth more than 1,000 words. Olympians Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber at Larry Nassar's sentencing. pic.twitter.com/OrqwQd7nRp — stephanieangel (@stephanieangel) January 19, 2018
A quote from Aly Raisman's testimony against Nassar was later seen on a sign at Indianapolis's Women's March:
Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) criticized the FBI for not retaining communications between two officials formerly involved with the Mueller probe who have been accused of partisan bias:
FBI Director Wray needs to provide an explanation for why the FBI deleted six months’ worth of Strozk-Page text messages sent during the Trump transition and early months of the Trump presidency. Was evidence about the anti-Trump “insurance policy” deleted? https://t.co/XB38xOZCbJ — Ron DeSantis (@RepDeSantis) January 21, 2018
A member of the House Freedom Caucus called for a second special counsel:
First the IRS destroyed emails pivotal to our investigation of their political targeting.
Now the FBI "failed to preserve" texts between Peter Strzok & Lisa Page following the '16 election.
The time for a second special counsel is now.https://t.co/BonrBlsJsB — Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 21, 2018
A Politico reporter shared this anecdote about the commerce secretary:
A source I had contacted about something more important responded that not only has Wilbur Ross fallen asleep at every meeting he’s been in with source, but that he drools - and uses his tie to clean it up. — Eliana Johnson (@elianayjohnson) January 22, 2018
And a Post columnist tweeted a photo of this headline:
Ok, if you get a little depressed about where our country’s heading, check out this same sex wedding at West Point pic.twitter.com/7UNwPQnzes — Ruth Marcus (@RuthMarcus) January 21, 2018
GOOD READS FROM ELSEWHERE:
-- Boston Globe, “Elizabeth Warren’s Native American problem goes beyond politics,” by Annie Linskey: “Warren says now, as she has from the first days of her public life, that she based her assertions on family lore, on her reasonable trust in what she was told about her ancestry as a child. ‘I know who I am,’ she said in a recent interview with the Globe. But that self-awareness may not be enough, as her political ambitions blossom. She’s taken flak from the right for years as a ‘fake Indian,’ including taunts from President Trump, who derisively calls her ‘Pocahontas.’ That clamor from the right will only grow with her increasing prominence. And, more telling, there’s also discomfort on the left and among some tribal leaders and activists that Warren has a political blind spot when it comes to the murkiness surrounding her story of her heritage[.]”
-- The Guardian, “Why has Britain given such a warm welcome to this shadowy professor?” by Nick Cohen: “He seems to be a spy, but Joseph Mifsud meets ministers and lands university posts.”
-- BuzzFeed News, “Chief Justice John Roberts Has Changed A Little Bit. And That Could Be A Big Deal,” by Chris Geidner: “Roberts joined the Supreme Court in 2005, seen as a staunch, across-the-board conservative. In recent years, though, he’s appeared to moderate some of his positions, in specific instances and sometimes in very nuanced ways. That kind of shift could have significant effects on how the current court decides major issues and — if it represents a permanent change — on how Roberts leads the court into the next decade.”
HOT ON THE LEFT “A ‘pro-white’ town manager wants races to separate, rails against Islam — and refuses to quit,” from Kristine Phillips: “Tom Kawczynski told the Bangor paper that he’s against bringing people from other countries and cultures to the United States. ... After he moved to Maine a year ago, he started a group called New Albion, which, according to its website, promotes ‘traditional western values emphasizing the positive aspects of our European heritage and uniquely American identity.’ … [I]n posts on his website and on Gab, a social media network that is used by right-wing figures, he defended his views and free-speech rights. He railed against political correctness and the media, which he accused of publishing skewed versions of his views and falsely painting him as a racist and a bigot.” HOT ON THE RIGHT: “NYC alt-right bash turns violent after protester slugs partygoer,” from the New York Daily News: “Violence erupted outside an alt-right gala in Midtown Saturday when a black-clad protester punched and choked a partygoer, cops said. Far-right provocateur Mike Cernovich was inside the event at the FREQNYC nightclub on W. 50th St. when the fisticuffs broke out about 10:30 p.m. ‘I saw him hit the old man,’ said witness Ali Thomas, 24. ‘One hit. He swung hard. He hit him hard. The old man's head hit the curb.’ The 911 caller said initially that the 56-year-old was in cardiac arrest after the fight, according to fire officials. Cernovich later emerged from the event and confronted a group of demonstrators.” “These guys are f-----g terrorists,” Cernovich said.
DAYBOOK:
Trump will receive his daily intelligence briefing.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who lost both of her legs in Iraq, blasted Trump for accusing Democrats of being apathetic toward the military amid the shutdown: “I spent my entire adult life looking out for the well-being, the training, the equipping of the troops for whom I was responsible. Sadly, this is something the current occupant of the Oval Office does not seem to care to do — and I will not be lectured about what our military needs by a five-deferment draft dodger.” (Amy B Wang)
NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:
-- Temperatures in D.C. could reach the 60s today. The Capital Weather Gang forecasts: “A springlike beginning to our week. After 40s when we get up and head out, many of us will see highs eclipse 60 degrees this afternoon, with partial sunshine. If we go mostly sunny, mid-60s are possible. Light winds from the south.”
-- The Capitals lost to the Flyers 2-1. (Jesse Dougherty)
-- A federal appeals court will decide the case between the Federal Aviation Administration and Washingtonians complaining about noise from flights into Reagan National Airport. Lori Aratani reports: “The two sides presented their case to a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last week. A ruling, which could take several months, will be closely watched by communities across the country grappling with similar issues tied to the FAA’s efforts to modernize the nation’s air traffic system.”
-- A Prince George’s County police officer attempted to rescue three people who had fallen through ice on a pond and ended up falling in, too. All four victims were later rescued. (Martin Weil)
VIDEOS OF THE DAY:
SNL took aim at Trump's physical:
The Post fact-checked a recent terrorism report touted by Trump on Twitter:
And, for the first time, the Screen Actors Guild Awards featured an all-woman presenter lineup:
