“The Biden administration on Friday announced plans for tens of thousands of asylum-seekers waiting in Mexico for their next immigration court hearings to be allowed into the United States while their cases proceed,” the AP reports.
Inside Trump’s Impeachment Defense
Donald Trump’s legal defense will focus entirely on process, Axios reports.
“The attorneys representing the former president know it’s fruitless to continue defending his actions preceding the Capitol attack. Instead, they’ll say none of that matters because the trial itself is unconstitutional — an argument many Republican senators are ready to embrace.”
NBC News: Trump’s defense to present case in Senate impeachment trial.
Will McConnell Vote to Convict Trump?
Playbook: “McConnell regards himself as a proud institutionalist. It’s hard to tell what that means for McConnell in this moment. Does he see conviction as a worthy punishment for a president who inspired an attack on a co-equal branch of government? If so, maybe it’s not such a long shot. Or does ‘protecting the institution’ mean acquitting Trump, because a post-presidential impeachment is unconstitutional in McConnell’s view?”
“There are complicating factors McConnell is surely taking into account as he makes his decision: A vote to convict could make winning back the Senate in 2022 more difficult. It might also trigger calls from the GOP base for McConnell to step aside as leader, forcing his own members to choose between him and their voters.”
“Still, even McConnell’s closest advisers admit they have no idea what he’ll do. Senate Republicans close with him say they’re genuinely in the dark — though they predict he will acquit. McConnell has said little, maintaining his poker face throughout the impeachment managers’ presentations, just as he did during the last impeachment. One reporter said he’s looked like a statue throughout the trial, hands folded in his lap and listening intently.”
Senate GOP Sees Trial Ending Trump’s Chances In 2024
“Senate Republicans, including those who do not plan to vote to convict former President Trump, say this week’s impeachment trial has effectively ended any chance of him becoming the GOP presidential nominee in 2024,” The Hill reports.
“From the viewpoint of some Republican senators, the compelling case presented by House prosecutors carries a silver lining: It means they likely won’t have to worry about Trump running for president again in three years, while at the same time eroding his influence in party politics more generally.”
Sinema Won’t Back Minimum Wage Hike
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) told Politico that she does not support using the Covid-19 relief bill to increase the federal minimum wage.
Said Sinema: “What’s important is whether or not it’s directly related to short-term Covid relief. And if it’s not, then I am not going to support it in this legislation. The minimum wage provision is not appropriate for the reconciliation process. It is not a budget item. And it shouldn’t be in there.”
Nikki Haley Breaks with Trump
Tim Alberta has a long, must-read profile of Nikki Haley, who is widely expected to run for president in 2024.
Here’s how she sees Donald Trump’s legacy: “We need to acknowledge he let us down. He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t let that ever happen again.”
More on Trump: “I don’t think he’s going to be in the picture…I don’t think he can. He’s fallen so far.”
Chamber of Commerce Embraces Biden
Politico: “Over the past month, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has taken a series of steps that have enraged its traditional Republican allies. It applauded much of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion plan to Covid relief bill; cheered Biden’s decision to rejoin the Paris climate agreement; backed the former leader of the liberal Center of American Progress, Neera Tanden, for Office of Management and Budget director; and expressed openness to raising the minimum wage, though not to $15 an hour.”
“That’s left the Chamber, a K Street institution known for its bruising battles with past Democratic administrations, occupying an increasingly lonely political center, caught between angry Republicans who feel the trade group has abandoned them and Democrats who are pursuing policies anathema to many of their members.
Democrats Push to Borrow More
New York Times: “As top Democrats continued to push a $1.9 trillion economic aid package through the House, some lawmakers and aides to President Biden raised the prospect of borrowing even more money to finance the president’s next set of spending plans, on infrastructure, buoyed by new projections that showed the nation’s fiscal picture was not as dire as officials feared in the fall.”
A key line on the administration’s thinking on infrastructure: “Mr. Biden proposed tax increases to pay for those plans during the campaign, but in recent days, some of his economic aides have hinted privately that some or all of the infrastructure package could be deficit financed.”
Pence’s ‘Nuclear Football’ Was In Danger During Riot
CNN: “Military officials overseeing the authorization process to launch nuclear weapons were unaware on January 6 that then-Vice President Mike Pence’s military aide carrying the ‘nuclear football’ was potentially in danger as rioters got close during the violent Capitol insurrection, according to a defense official.”
“US Strategic Command became aware of the gravity of the incident after seeing a video played at the Senate impeachment trial Wednesday showing Pence, his Secret Service agents and a military officer carrying the briefcase with classified nuclear launch information running down a flight of stairs inside the Capitol to get to safety.”
Biden to Rescind Medicaid Work Requirements
“The Biden administration is planning Friday to wipe out one of the core health policies of the Trump era, taking actions that will immediately rescind permission for states to compel poor residents to work in exchange for receiving Medicaid benefits,” the Washington Post reports.
“Federal health officials will withdraw their predecessors’ invitation to states to apply for approval to impose such work requirements and will notify 10 states granted permission that it is about to be retracted.”
Biden Considers Prominent Republicans as Ambassadors
“Biden administration officials are weighing nominating prominent Republicans to ambassadorships — including Cindy McCain and former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake — to highlight the importance of bipartisanship in U.S. foreign policy,” Axios reports.
“President Biden hasn’t put any Republicans in his Cabinet, but a move like this would symbolize a return to the Truman-era adage that partisan politics stops ‘at the water’s edge.'”
Three GOP Senators Meet with Trump’s Lawyers
“A trio of Republican senators allied with former President Donald Trump met with his defense team Thursday evening, in the middle of an impeachment trial in which they will vote on whether to convict Trump and potentially bar him from holding public office again,” CNN reports.
“Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah were spotted going into a room in the US Capitol that Trump’s lawyers were using to prepare for their arguments.”
Court Filing Details Bribes to Paxton
“Late last year, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) fired multiple senior aides who accused him of accepting a bribe. A court filing reveals for the first time what four of those aides believe Paxton received in exchange for helping a donor with his business affairs,” the Texas Tribune reports.
“An updated version of a lawsuit filed by the four whistleblowers claims that Austin real estate developer Nate Paul helped Paxton remodel his house and gave a job to a woman with whom Paxton allegedly had an affair.”
“In return, the aides allege, Paxton used his office to help Paul’s business interests, investigate Paul’s adversaries and help settle a lawsuit.”
National Republicans Jump Into Newsom Recall
“National Republicans for the first time are jumping into the effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the party’s most aggressive move yet to oust the first-term Democrat,” Politico reports.
Impeachment Managers Wrap Up Case Against Trump
“House managers on Thursday wrapped up their case against former president Donald Trump, imploring the Senate to convict him while warning that he could stoke violence again,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO): “We humbly, humbly ask you to convict President Trump for the crime for which he is overwhelmingly guilty of. Because if you don’t, if we pretend this didn’t happen, or worse, if we let it go unanswered, who’s to say it won’t happen again?”
Trump Was Sicker Than Previously Disclosed
“President Donald Trump was sicker with Covid-19 in October than publicly acknowledged at the time, with extremely depressed blood oxygen levels at one point and a lung problem associated with pneumonia caused by the coronavirus,” the New York Times reports.
“His prognosis became so worrisome before he was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that officials believed he would need to be put on a ventilator.”
“Mr. Trump’s blood oxygen level alone was cause for extreme concern, dipping into the 80s.”
Biden Has Secured 200 Million More Vaccine Doses
“President Biden is expected to announce Thursday afternoon that his administration has secured deals for another 200 million doses of coronavirus vaccine,” the Washington Post reports.
“The purchases would increase available supply by 50 percent, bringing the total to 600 million doses. Because both products are two-dose regimens, that would be enough to fully vaccinate 300 million people.”
Flashback Quote of the Day
“I think you’d have riots. I think you’d have riots. I’m representing a tremendous many, many millions of people.”
— Donald Trump quoted by NBC News in March 2016, warning what would happen if he failed to secure the Republican presidential nomination.
