Daily Archives
September 6, 2017
35 posts · Wednesday
Freedom Caucus Vents to Paul Ryan
“Leaders of the Freedom Caucus met with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-WiI) on Wednesday to candidly express their frustrations with his leadership and his handling of the Republican legislative agenda, according to two people familiar with the discussion,” the Washington Post reports.
“The exchange comes as former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon is having conversations with hard-line GOP lawmakers about how they should exert greater influence in the fall’s political fights and pressure congressional Republican leaders.”
Conservatives lawmakers “have begun to discuss who could replace Ryan as speaker, should conservatives rebel against him.”
Russian Facebook Ads Were a Rounding Error
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Trump Again Highlights the GOP Divisions
Joshua Green: “The Republican bounty from Donald Trump’s unexpected presidential victory last November was the rare opportunity it afforded the GOP to enact an agenda without Democratic input. Because Republicans won control of the White House and both houses of Congress, nothing could inhibit them—in theory—from passing their preferred legislation. This happy scenario was the culmination of Republican fantasy: As the veteran conservative activist Grover Norquist once put it, Republicans needed only to elect a president ‘with enough working digits to handle a pen’ to sign those bills into law.”
“Under Trump, Norquist’s fantasy has given way to a sobering reality. Rather than sign off on a succession of Republican bills, President Trump has instead managed to exacerbate nearly every major division within the GOP, whether cultural or political.”
Republicans Furious Trump Caved to Democrats
Jonathan Swan: “One top Republican described the move to me as the legislative equivalent of giving an entire stockpile of weapons to Democrats and inviting them to take the entire Republican Party hostage. Republicans are in a state of shock.”
“Sources inside and close to leadership have used the full range of expletives in text messages reacting to what Trump did this morning.”
“When the debt ceiling and government funding bills expire in December, Democrats will have all the leverage, because Republicans can’t pass a CR or debt ceiling without Democratic votes. That will also force Republicans to support a funding bill that legalizes the protection of illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children (the DACA program that Trump says he’ll end in six months if Congress doesn’t act.)”
The Fix: “It’s beginning to get ridiculous for GOP leaders. That bargain they struck with Trump was always a tenuous and uneasy one, and he’s now openly violating it.”
Trump Not Likely to Pick Cohn for Fed Chairman
President Trump “is unlikely to nominate Gary Cohn, his top economic adviser, as the next Federal Reserve chairman, indicating that he is open to considering additional names for a pick he has said he would like to make by year’s end,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Mr. Cohn may have doomed his chances for the top Fed job with comments he made to the Financial Times on Aug. 25… Mr. Cohn had told associates that he was disgusted by Mr. Trump’s performance immediately after the president’s combative news conference on Aug. 15 about the Charlottesville events.”
A GOP source close to the White House tells Jake Tapper that Cohn is “more likely to get electric chair than Fed Chair.”
Facebook Sold Ads to Russian Company During Election
Facebook told congressional investigators that it has discovered it sold ads during the U.S. presidential election to a shadowy Russian company seeking to target voters, the Washington Post reports.
“A small portion of the ads, which began in the summer of 2015, directly named Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, the people said. Most of the ads focused on pumping politically divisive issues such as gun rights and immigration fears, as well as gay rights and racial discrimination.”
In July, a Facebook spokesperson told CNN that “We have seen no evidence that Russian actors bought ads on Facebook in connection with the election.”
McCain Will Back New Obamacare Repeal Effort
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told The Hill that he “supports a newer version of an Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill, throwing some support behind the last-ditch effort.”
“McCain said he backs a bill from Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) that would convert Obamacare spending into block grants for states.”
GOP Leaders ‘Annoyed’ at Ivanka Trump Visit
Republican leaders on the Hill were “visibly annoyed” that Ivanka Trump joined an Oval Office meeting to “say hello” during thei meeting with President Trump on a must-pass spending bill, The Hill reports.
According to multiple reporters, the leaders “careened off topic” when the president’s daughter entered the president’s office near the end of the meeting.
Bannon on 60 Minutes
Steve Bannon, the ousted White House strategist, sat for an interview with Charlie Rose this afternoon in New York, sources tell the Hollywood Reporter.
The full interview will air Sunday on 60 Minutes with portions of it set to run Thursday on CBS This Morning.
Candidate Lists ‘White’ Among Her Qualifications
Charlotte mayoral candidate Kimberley Paige Barnette (R) listed her qualifications for public office as “Republican & Smart, White, Traditional,” the Charlotte Observer reports.
Lawyer Says He’s One of Few ‘Adults’ in White House
“In a bizarre late-night email exchange, President Trump’s top White House lawyer working on the Russia scandal, Ty Cobb, said that he was serving in the White House because ‘more adults’ were needed there and noted that he had made a financial sacrifice in order to take the job,” Mother Jones reports.
Wrote Cobb: “I walked away from $4 million annually to do this, had to sell my entire retirement account for major capital losses and lost a shitload to try to protect the third pillar of democracy. Your hate I will never understand as an American. Hope you get help!”
Trump Breaks with GOP on Debt Ceiling Deal
President Trump and congressional leaders “agreed to increase the debt limit and fund the government until mid-December, after the president sided with Democratic leaders over reluctant Republicans on a deal that would set up a fiscal showdown for year’s end,” the New York Times reports.
Washington Post: “The president’s decision, confirmed by Republicans, came barely an hour after Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) panned the idea of a brief debt hike, accusing Democrats of ‘playing politics’ with much needed Harvey relief by trying to create pressure for their agenda. Democrats believe this extension into December would increase their leverage on Republicans to secure stabilization funds for health-care markets and resolve the legal status of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.”
Said one Republican to Axios: “Dems bluffed their way into total victory. They win the politics of DACA and leverage on debt in the winter. The fate is sealed – DACA will be reauthorized without strings, Schumer has inserted himself into all negotiations in the winter, including tax, spending and immigration.”
Playbook: “Every Republican leadership aide we’ve spoken to disagrees with this strategy, and thinks the president got rolled.”
The Retreat of the Moderates
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Reichert Will Not Run Again
Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA), a seven-term Republican from a potential swing district outside Seattle, will not seek reelection next year, The Hill reports.
Trump and McConnell Meet After Long Standoff
President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell met privately “in a bid to repair their badly frayed relationship,” Politico reports.
“The meeting was an apparent attempt to clear the air after a contentious August recess between the two, mostly fueled by the Senate’s failure to repeal Obamacare.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“I think it’s fair to say that I didn’t realize how quickly the ground was shifting under all our feet. I was running a traditional presidential campaign with carefully thought-out policies and painstakingly built coalitions, while Trump was running a reality TV show that expertly and relentlessly stoked Americans’ anger and resentment.”
— Hillary Clinton, quoted by CNN in her new book, What Happened.
Republicans Lower Their Senate Expectations
National Journal: “Senate Republicans have begun downgrading their expectations for next year’s midterms, tempering hopes of significantly expanding their 52-seat majority to merely protecting their narrow margin and salvaging wounded senators damaged by intraparty scuffles.”
“Now, the number of promising targets has been cut nearly in half, while Republicans are fretting that they’re in deep danger of losing seats in Arizona and Nevada, where Sens. Jeff Flake and Dean Heller are fighting two-front wars that will damage their reelection chances.”
Said one GOP strategist: “The environment for Republicans is not good anywhere.”
