Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA) announced that he is resigning from Congress to take a job in the private sector, The Hill reports.
Pelosi Jabs Trump for Not Paying Federal Workers
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that her rationale for seeking to reschedule the annual State of the Union address comes down to her and other Democrats not wanting to have security officials work the event without being paid, NBC News reports.
Said Pelosi: “Maybe he thinks it’s OK not to pay people who work,” in an apparent jab at the president over allegations that his businesses have stiffed contractors in the past.
She added: “I don’t. And my caucus doesn’t either.”
Schumer Looks to Recruit Star for Arizona Seat
Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) is recruiting Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), a rising Democratic star in the House, to run for the Arizona Senate seat long held by John McCain, The Hill reports.
Giuliani Walks Back Comments on Collusion
Rudy Giuliani “backtracked on Thursday from a surprising assertion he made a night earlier that left open the possibility that Trump campaign aides might have coordinated with Russia’s election interference in 2016,” the New York Times reports.
Said Giuliani: “There was no collusion by President Trump in any way, shape or form. Likewise, I have no knowledge of any collusion by any of the thousands of people who worked on the campaign.”
He added: “The only knowledge I have in this regard is the collusion of the Clinton campaign with Russia which has so far been ignored.”
Greg Sargent: Giuliani’s absurd walk back signals serious worry about Trump’s vulnerability.
Thousands More Migrant Children Separated from Families
The Trump administration separated thousands more migrant children from parents at border than previously known, the Washington Post reports.
“A report from Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general said the federal tracking system has been so poor that the precise number of migrant children separated from their parents is unclear.”
Democrats Want to Stop Members from Living In Offices
McClatchy: “Members of the House of Representatives who live in their Capitol Hill offices shouldn’t get too comfortable.”
“The practice is going under the knife from the new Democratic leadership. Top Democrats are considering making the live-in lawmakers pay for bunking in prime government real estate — or ending the practice altogether.”
Initial Ratings Favor Democrats Holding House In 2020
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “Democrats start the cycle favored to hold the House majority, but a GOP presidential victory would open the door to Republicans restoring total control of Washington.”
“Overall, roughly equal numbers of Democratic (47) and Republican (46) districts begin the cycle listed in our ratings in the Toss-up, Leans, and Likely categories. That means that more than three of every four House districts (79%) begin the cycle as rated Safe for the incumbent party.”
The Shutdown Has Taken a Toll on Trump
First Read: “Many of us in the political community have grown numb to how poll numbers about Trump rarely change — most Americans made up their minds about the president in his first few months in office, and those opinions have barely budged since then.”
“But don’t let that reality distract you from the clear evidence that this shutdown has chipped away at Trump’s numbers.”
“As we learned in 2018, an approval rating in the low 40s is a terrible place for a president and his party to be. And right now, it’s worse than that.”
‘The Atlantic’ Calls for Trump’s Impeachment
The Atlantic, in its cover story: “The Founders worried about electing a president who lacked character or a sense of honor, but Americans have long since lost the moral vocabulary to articulate such concerns explicitly, preferring to look instead for demonstrable violations of rules that illuminate underlying character flaws. It is Trump’s unfitness for office that necessitates impeachment; his attacks on American democracy are plainly evident, and should be sufficient.”
“But some Republican senators may continue to dismiss the more sweeping claims against the president, particularly where no statutory crimes attach. And so the strength of the evidence supporting narrower charges such as obstruction of justice and campaign-finance violations may ultimately determine his fate. If the committee can substantiate these charges, it will place even the most reluctant senators in a bind. When the moment finally comes to cast their vote, and the world is watching, how many will acquit the president of things he has clearly done?”
Quote of the Day
“I don’t understand what the outcome is here, and I don’t understand where we’re going with it. I’m confused as to what the White House’s strategy is on this a little bit.”
— Former White House adviser Gary Cohn, quoted by the Boston Globe, saying the government shutdown “makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.”
Cohen Paid Liberty University Official to Rig Polls
President Trump’s former fixer and personal attorney Michael Cohen paid a technology expert to rig online polls in Trump’s favor, the Wall Street Journal reports.
John Gauger, the owner of Red Finch Solutions and chief information officer at Liberty University, said Cohen offered him $50,000 to rig two online polls. Cohen handed Gauger a Walmart bag loaded with about $12,000 in cash during a 2015 meeting at Cohen’s Trump Organization office, but he never paid him the remainder of the promised $50,000.
Giuliani Contradicts Past Denials of Collusion
President Trump’s legal spokesman Rudy Giuliani “appeared to grant the possibility that members of Trump’s campaign did, in fact, collude with the Russians during the 2016 presidential election campaign,” the Washington Post reports.
“And in the process, he contradicted dozens of previous denials that both the Trump team (and Trump himself) have offered.”
“In fact, the Trump team has moved the goal posts on this question no fewer than 10 times after initially denying any contact at all with ‘foreign entities.’ Trump has said dozens of times that there was ‘no collusion,’ full stop. This appears to be the first time anyone has acknowledged the possibility that someone colluded without Trump’s knowledge.”
Trump Fraying Nerves at the Pentagon
“Two years into his presidency, Donald Trump is fueling unprecedented uncertainty and anxiety inside the Pentagon. In private conversations over the past month, many of them unsolicited, more than a dozen key military officers, enlisted personnel and senior civilians have expressed worry and concern to CNN. None of the officials have spoken publicly about this, as military law prohibits active-duty personnel from criticizing a sitting president.”
“It’s not just Trump’s unpredictable decision making that has officials on edge, it’s also his penchant for politicizing the military— something that’s come into focus in recent months as he’s struggled to fulfill his campaign promise to crack down on immigration and build a border wall. His decision to draw down troops in Syria and his claims that ISIS is defeated have also rankled military commanders who felt it wasn’t well thought out.”
Former GOP Senator Working to Ease Russian Sanctions
Former Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) “is lobbying on behalf of companies linked to a Russian oligarch with ties to President Vladimir Putin, aligning himself with Trump administration efforts to ease sanctions on his clients,” CNN reports.
“Vitter, who has registered as a foreign agent, lobbied with several countries’ ambassadors and the Treasury Department to ease punishing sanctions imposed on major aluminum firms tied to oligarch Oleg Deripaska. After the Treasury Department agreed last month and eased the sanctions, Vitter was spotted in the Senate ahead of critical votes taking aim at the Trump administration move.”
Trump Slipping with His Base
A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll finds President Trump’s approval rating down by a net 7-point change to 39% to 53% over the last month.
The movement has come from within key portions of his base: He’s down significantly among suburban men, a net-positive approval rating of 51% to 39% to a net-negative of 42% approve, 48% disapprove. That’s a net change of down 18 percentage points.
He’s also down a net of 13 points among white evangelicals and down a net of 10 points among Republicans.
Recession Warnings Pile Up
“The partial government shutdown was supposed to be a brief non-event for the economy. Now it’s starting to look like a serious crisis that could nudge the U.S. toward recession and threaten President Trump’s economic message during his reelection campaign,” Politico reports.
“Across Wall Street, analysts are rushing out warnings that missed federal paychecks, dormant government contractors and shelved corporate stock offerings could push first-quarter growth close to or even below zero if the shutdown, which is wrapping up its fourth week, drags on much longer.”
Big Majority Would Definitely Vote Against Trump
“With the 2020 presidential election already underway, 57% of registered voters said they would definitely vote against President Trump,” according to a PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll.
“Another 30% of voters said they would cast their ballot to support Trump, and an additional 13% said they had no idea who would get their vote.”
American Government In Crisis
Playbook: “There’s no doubt we have gotten accustomed to lurching from standoff to standoff, diplomatic row to global skirmish. But over the past few days, it feels as if the crisis in our government has hit a new inflection point.”
“We are now on day 27 of a government shutdown centered on whether the U.S. should build a new barrier on the southern border with Mexico. Hundreds of miles of barriers already exist. Neither Republicans nor Democrats have been willing to blink, and both sides appear to be growing increasingly dug in. The shutdown is continuing ad infinitum. Ratings agencies and economic forecasters have warned Congress to shape up, or face huge consequences.”
“At the sane time, the Trump administration is forcing some workers to come back to work with no pay. The agents whom the government has hired to ensure people don’t board our airliners with bombs and weapons — TSA employees — are working without pay. So are the people protecting the president of the United States.”