A new Morning Consult poll finds just 31% of voters support shutting the government down again to force Congress to appropriate money for the wall, while nearly twice that many, 58%, oppose another shutdown.
Meanwhile, President Trump has suggested that he could declare a “national emergency” to avert a shutdown but still build the wall — but that, too, is unpopular. A narrow, 51% majority opposes declaring an emergency, which is supported by 38%.
Politico: ““Democrats are ruling out the idea of negotiating on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, skeptical that Trump would actually provide a permanent fix for the young undocumented immigrants after he previously rejected just such a deal. Meanwhile, top Republicans also doubt an expansive agreement could be put together in the next three weeks.”
“The fading prospects of the negotiation mean Trump is likely to receive only a fraction of the $5.7 billion he’s been seeking for his southern barrier in any deal, if one can be put together at all by Feb. 15. Then he would have to decide whether to unilaterally move funds around by declaring a legally dubious national emergency or embrace another debilitating shutdown.”
Washington Post: “Republicans intent on averting another government shutdown sought Tuesday to expand border security talks to dealing with U.S. debt and other issues as lawmakers operated with no clear signal from President Trump on what he would accept.”
Playbook: “President Trump has nothing on his schedule today besides his intelligence briefing. So far this week, the president has just had lunch with the VP on his schedule. Nothing else.”
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“She’s not running for president.”
— Former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, quoted by The Hill, saying speculation that Hillary Clinton would run again was “media catnip.”
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti will announce that he will not run for president in 2020, Politico reports.
“Garcetti had been considering a presidential campaign for months and traveled the country raising money for Democrats.”
“House Democrats plan to put Republicans on the spot Wednesday with a vote to condemn future government shutdowns, even as the threat of another border wall showdown remains just weeks away,” Politico reports.
“Democratic leaders will force a vote on a resolution that states that ‘shutdowns are detrimental to the nation and should not occur.’
“Tulsi Gabbard’s presidential campaign hasn’t officially launched yet but it’s already melting down,” Politico reports.
“Two-and-a-half weeks after she told CNN she had decided to run for the White House—an announcement that even her own staff didn’t know was coming, after weeks of debating the timing of the rollout—the 37-year-old congresswoman has struggled to contain the chaos.”
CNN’s Town Hall with Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) was the most watched cable news single candidate election town hall ever, CNN reports.
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz “may not decide on making a independent run for president until this summer or fall and will only be a candidate if he sees a plausible way to win the White House,” Bloomberg reports.
Said adviser Bill Burton: “He 100 percent will only run if he sees a viable path. There’s no chance he gets in this race if there isn’t a path.”
Burton added it may not be until “summer or fall” when Schultz makes a decision. By that point the frontrunners among the wide field of Democratic contenders may become clearer.
Meanwhile, the Washington Examiner reports that top Democratic groups threaten to unleash arsenal to torpedo Schultz’s third-party bid.
“There is simply no one more influential in the White House on the president than Jared Kushner. He’s not the only person who he listens to, but I don’t think anyone has more influence than Jared has.”
— Former Gov. Chris Christie (R), in an interview with NPR.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said that a border security compromise that Congress hopes to produce doesn’t have to include the word “wall,” signaling a rhetorical retreat from a term that President Trump made a keystone of his presidential campaign.
Said McCarthy: “It could be barrier. It doesn’t have to be a wall.”
A new Quinnipiac poll finds American voters trust Speaker Nancy Pelosi more than President Trump, 49% to 42% “on issues that are important to you.” Independent voters trust Pelosi more than Trump by 49% to 36%.
Men trust Trump more, 48% to 42%. Women trust Pelosi more 54% to 37%.
White voters trust Trump more 52% to 42%. Black voters go to Pelosi 82% to 2% and Hispanic voters trust her more 62% to 27%.
Stacey Abrams will deliver the Democratic response to President Trump’s State of the Union address next week, Politico reports.
Abrams drew national attention last year when she ran for governor of Georgia.
“I hardly think that they were organized enough to put together a Tom Clancy-type operation with Russia. Now, I could be proven wrong on that because, as I said, I was not there most of the time from, I’d say about June or so going through all the way to the election because I was spending my time in the transition.”
— Former Gov. Chris Christie (R), when asked by NPR whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is urging President Trump “to up the ante in talks over his border wall: To push for an increase in the national debt limit as part of a legislative package to avert another government shutdown in mid-February,” CNN reports.
“Taking such a step would amount to a dramatic move by the President: He could dare Democrats to block funding for the border wall and risk sending the country into default in the process. Graham said agreeing to one big package could clear the decks of the thorny issues facing Congress in the weeks ahead.”
Playbook: “This seems like such an epically bad idea. The debt limit is the most dangerous legislative tool Congress can play with.”
“Russian officials made a secret proposal to North Korea last fall aimed at resolving deadlocked negotiations with the Trump administration over its nuclear weapons program,” the Washington Post reports.
“In exchange for dismantling its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, Moscow offered the country a nuclear power plant.”
Axios: “This marks yet another example of an emboldened Russia intervening publicly and privately in key global hotspots, often times in direct conflict with U.S. interests.”
Billionaire former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz told CNBC that he can’t run for president as a Democrat because he doesn’t like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) proposal to slap a 70-percent marginal tax rate on income above $10 million.
Said Schultz: “I respect the Democratic Party. I no longer feel affiliated because I don’t know their views represent the majority of Americans. I don’t think we want a 70 percent income tax in America.”
He added: “If I ran as a Democrat, I would have to say things that I know in my heart I do not believe, and I would have to be disingenuous.”
Trump campaign official Michael Glassner said that the campaign was preparing to file a lawsuit against former White House communications aide Cliff Sims for violating a nondisclosure agreement related to information in his new book, Team of Vipers.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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