The Commentariat -- January 5, 2019

Late Morning Update:

Peter Baker & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Two weeks into the showdown over a border wall, Mr. Trump is now crafting his own narrative of the confrontation that has come to consume his presidency. Rather than a failure of negotiation, the shutdown has become a test of political virility, one in which he insists he is receiving surreptitious support from unlikely quarters. Not only are national security hawks cheering him on to defend a porous southern border, but so too are former presidents who he says have secretly confessed to him that they should have done what he is doing. Not only do federal employees accept being furloughed or forced to work without wages, they have assured him that they would give up paychecks so that he can stand strong. Never mind how implausible such assertions might seem. The details do not matter to Mr. Trump as much as dominating the debate.... He has told people that 'my people' love the fight, and that he believes he is winning."

Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: National Security Advisor John Bolton & Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Joseph Dunford will travel to Turkey next week to discuss with Turkish officials Turkey's "concerns and expectations" regarding the U.S.'s planned withdrawal of troops from Syria. Accompanying Bolton & Dunford will be James Jeffrey, appointed Friday "as the envoy to the global anti-Islamic State coalition.... Turkey wants the United States to disarm Syrian Kurdish forces it has trained and supplied for the fight against the Islamic State, and to provide air and logistical support for Turkish troops and allied Syrian opposition forces.... U.S. strategy was thrown into confusion last month, when President Trump announced the immediate withdrawal of some 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria. For the past three years, those forces have advised and directed Syrian Kurdish fighters who, with the aid of U.S. airstrikes, have driven the Islamic State out of most of its Syrian strongholds." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump tweeted last month the U.S. was withdrawing because "We have defeated ISIS in Syria." Oddly enough, as Patrick points out in an essential comment below, DeYoung reports, "In an update issued Friday, the U.S. Central Command listed a total of 469 strikes conducted against the Islamic State in Syria between Dec. 16 and 29." If Trump was right, we'll have to assume that those strikes were simply "pounding sand."

Christian Davenport of the Washington Post: "Facing mounting criticism from Capitol Hill, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has rescinded an invitation to the controversial head of the Russian space agency to visit the United States.... [Dmitry] Rogozin was placed on a sanction list by the Obama administration in 2014 response to Russia's military actions in Ukraine when he was the deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation. After the sanctions were issued, he said Russia should stop flying NASA's astronauts to the International Space Station in retaliation. 'After analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest the U.S. delivers its astronauts to the ISS [International Space Station] with a trampoline,' he wrote on Twitter. Given Rogozin's history as a bombastic Russian nationalist and presence on the sanction list, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and others said Bridenstine should have never invited him.... Earlier Friday, a NASA spokesman said that the visit, originally scheduled for February, would be postponed. But as the criticism mounted, the agency decided it was best to withdraw the invitation entirely."

Julie Ray & Neli Esipova of Gallup: "While Donald Trump has spent much of his presidency focused on the number of people who want to get into the U.S., since he took office, record numbers of Americans have wanted to get out. Though relatively average by global standards, the 16% of Americans overall who said in 2017 and again in 2018 that they would like to permanently move to another country -- if they could -- is higher than the average levels during either the George W. Bush (11%) or Barack Obama administration (10%). While Gallup's World Poll does not ask people about their political leanings, most of the recent surge in Americans' desire to migrate has come among groups that typically lean Democratic and that have disapproved of Trump's job performance so far in his presidency: women, young Americans and people in lower-income groups."

*****

Michael Tackett & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "President Trump threatened on Friday to keep the federal government partially closed for 'months or even years' if he does not get money to build a wall along the southern border, but he also expressed optimism he could reach agreement with congressional Democrats within days. Mr. Trump and Democratic leaders emerged from a two-hour meeting without a deal to reopen government agencies that have already been shuttered for 14 days and offered sharply contrasting views of where they stood. Democrats called the meeting 'contentious' while the president and Republican allies called it 'productive.'... Mr. Trump had no hostile words for the opposition. 'I found the Democrats really want to do something,' he said. He designated Vice President Mike Pence, Kirstjen Nielsen, the Homeland Security secretary, and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser to meet with congressional representatives this weekend." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "... Donald Trump said Friday he is considering declaring a national emergency to help pay for his long-desired border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.... Earlier Friday, multiple sources familiar with the ongoing discussion told ABC News that options could include reprogramming funds from the Department of Defense and elsewhere -- a move which would circumvent Congress. Sources tell ABC News the discussions are still on the 'working level' adding that there's a range of legal mechanisms that are being considered before such a decision is announced." ...

... Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "As the government shutdown drags on, lawyers from the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon are meeting to discuss whether ... Donald Trump can declare a national emergency to deploy troops and Defense Department resources to build his border wall, according to two sources.... One of the sources, a senior administration official, said the White House has kept this option on the table for some time, but is now considering it more seriously.... The numbers of border crossers are not at all-time highs." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: That's funny, because for the past two years, "wall" has not been a national emergency. The real "emergency" is Trump's fear that if he doesn't build "wall," he'll lose support from winger personalities & his bigoted voter base. While there's nothing illegal about "looking into" such a move, if Trump attempted to so abuse his ability to declare national emergencies by using it to usurp the Congress's Constitutional power of the purse in defiance of the Congress's wishes, such an act would be not only impeachable but unconstitutional, IMO. ...

... Rafi Schwartz of Splinter: "And as for all those people who actually own the property along the border where the president's wall would theoretically be built? Well, he's got something he likes to call the 'military version of eminent domain.' Neato! (also: not a real thing)." ...

... Off the Effing Rails. Asawin Suebsaeng & Sam Stein of the Daily Beast: "President Trump kicked off ... Friday's meeting at the White House over the ongoing shutdown standoff ... with a rant lasting roughly 15 minutes that included his $5.6 billion demand for a border wall, and threatened that he was willing to keep the government closed for 'years' if that's what it took to get his wall. He also, unprompted, brought up the Democrats who want him impeached, and even blamed [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi for new Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib saying at a party earlier this week that Democrats would impeach the 'motherfucker' Trump. (It is unclear why Trump would think Pelosi was responsible for this.) Trump proceeded to tell the room he was too popular to impeach. [Mrs. McC: Impeachment is not supposed to depend upon or measure popularity.] Along with saying the word 'fuck' at least three times throughout the meeting, the president bizarrely stated that he did not want to call the partial government shutdown a 'shutdown,' according to [a] source. Instead, he referred to it as a 'strike.' (Many of the federal employees affected by the weeks-long shutdown have been working without pay. That is essentially the opposite of a strike.)" ...

... Another Trump Whopper. Andrew Restuccia of Politico: "... Donald Trump claimed without evidence on Friday that past presidents have privately confided to him that they regret not building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. But at least three of the four living U.S. presidents -- Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama -- did no such thing. Asked if Clinton told Trump that he should have built a border wall, Clinton spokesman Angel Ureña said, 'He did not. In fact, they've not talked since the inauguration.' Bush spokesman Freddy Ford also said the two men had not discussed the matter. And Obama, for his part, has not spoken with Trump since his inauguration, except for a brief exchange at George H.W. Bush's funeral in Washington, D.C. Obama has consistently blasted Trump's pledge to build a border wall.... Spokespeople for George H.W. Bush, who died in November, and Jimmy Carter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.... Since taking office, Trump has had little contact with past presidents...." Mrs. McC: There is zero chance Poppy or President Carter told Trump they wished they'd spent billions on a quixotic wall. I would not say "claimed without evidence"; I'd say "lied." ...

... Nancy Cook of Politico: "... Donald Trump's new acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, is already putting his stamp on the West Wing after just a few days on the job. While his recently departed predecessor, Gen. John Kelly, often tried to restrain ... Donald Trump, Mulvaney -- who has said he won't seek to be a check on the impulsive president -- has been egging on the president in his confrontation with congressional Democrats over a border wall." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Never Mind All This. Damian Paletta & Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "Food stamps for 38 million low-income Americans would face severe reductions and more than $140 billion in tax refunds are at risk of being frozen or delayed if the government shutdown stretches into February, widespread disruptions that threaten to hurt the economy. The Trump administration, which had not anticipated a long-term shutdown, recognized only this week the breadth of the potential impact, several senior administration officials said. The officials said they were focused now on understanding the scope of the consequences and determining whether there is anything they can do to intervene. Thousands of federal programs are affected by the shutdown, but few intersect with the public as much as the tax system and the Department of Agriculture;s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the current version of food stamps." Emphasis added. ...

... OR This. "Blue Flu." Rene Marsh & Gregory Wallace of CNN: "Hundreds of Transportation Security Administration officers, who are required to work without paychecks through the partial government shutdown, have called out from work this week from at least four major airports, according to two senior agency officials and three TSA employee union officials. The mass call outs could inevitably mean air travel is less secure, especially as the shutdown enters its second week with no clear end to the political stalemate in sight.... Union officials stress that the absences are not part of an organized action, but believe the number of people calling out will likely increase....Two of the sources, who are federal officials, described the sick outs as protests of the paycheck delay. One called it the 'blue flu,' a reference to the blue shirts worn by transportation security officers who screen passengers and baggage at airport security checkpoints. A union official, however, said that ... officers have said they are calling in sick ... [because] single parents can no longer afford child care or they are finding cash-paying jobs outside of government work to pay their rent and other bills, for example." ...

... OR This. Darryl Fears & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "Three days after most of the federal workforce was furloughed on Dec. 21, a 14-year-old girl fell 700 feet to her death at the Horseshoe Bend Overlook, part of the Glen Canyon Recreation Area in Arizona. The following day, Christmas, a man died at Yosemite National Park in California after suffering a head injury from a fall. On Dec. 27, a woman was killed by a falling tree at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which straddles the borders of North Carolina and Tennessee. The deaths follow a decision by Trump administration officials to leave the scenic -- but sometimes deadly -- parks open even as the Interior Department has halted most of its operations. During previous extended shutdowns, the National Park Service barred access to many of its sites across the nation. National Park Service spokesman Jeremy Barnum said in an email that an average of six people die each week in the park system, a figure that includes 'accidents like drownings, falls, and motor vehicle crashes and medical related incidents such as heart attacks.'... Several former Park Service officials, along with the system's advocates, said in interviews that activities such as viewing animals and hiking outdoors can carry a greater risk when fewer employees are around." ...

... Peter Whoriskey & Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "While many federal workers go without pay and the government is partially shut down, hundreds of senior Trump political appointees are poised to receive annual raises of about $10,000 a year. The pay raises for cabinet secretaries, deputy secretaries, top administrators and even Vice President Mike Pence are scheduled to go into effect beginning Jan. 5 without legislation to stop them, according to documents issued by the Office of Personnel Management and experts in federal pay. The raises appear to be an intended consequence of the shutdown: When lawmakers failed to pass bills on Dec. 21 to fund multiple federal agencies, they allowed an existing pay freeze to lapse.... Cabinet secretaries, for example, would be entitled to a jump in annual salary from $199,700 to $210,700." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Frank Rich: "When Trump capitulates on the shutdown, he'll say he's 'won' no matter what the particulars are. He's already been readying that plan, at various times declaring that the wall is already nearing completion, or redefining the word 'wall' as 'steel slats' or 'barrier' or whatever.... He knows that his base will buy any victory he claims, and it's likely that the hard-liners at Fox News, including Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity, will get with the program as well when there's no other way out."

How do you impeach a president who has won perhaps the greatest election of all time, done nothing wrong (no Collusion with Russia, it was the Dems that Colluded), had the most successful first two years of any president, and is the most popular Republican in party history 93%? -- Donald Trump, in a tweet Friday morning

I did not lift this from the Onion; this is a real tweet Trump wrote this morning. It represents either (a) one purposeful lie after another, or (b) grounds to immediately invoke the Twentyfifth Amendment. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Jonathan Chait: "Basic facts about Trump's life, which would have been thoroughly plumbed were he any other presidential candidate, are only starting to be investigated.... One reason Trump has escaped scrutiny, of course, is that he has withheld his tax returns.... Trump has an obvious motive to conceal his decades of dependency on his father's largesse, as well as the apparent role played by Russian money laundering in replacing those cash infusions after his father's money ran out.... Measured in absolute terms, or against other candidates, Trump was subject to harsh, unrelenting scrutiny. But measured against the scale of his own dark past, he skated into office with barely any vetting at all, abetted by decades of friendly propaganda.... The review of Trump's life is only beginning now. It will probably tell us that Trump is not merely a politician who has abused his power, or a businessman who has cut corners. He is a criminal who happened to be elected president." Thanks to MAG for the link. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Bob Just Keeps on Truckin'. Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's federal grand jury has been extended so it may continue to meet and vote on criminal indictments for up to six more months. The grand jury's initial 18-month term was set to expire over the weekend. The extension is the surest sign yet that the Russia investigation isn't finished. It means, broadly, that Mueller may continue pursuing alleged criminal activity related to the Russian government's interference in the 2016 presidential election, and that more indictments may be coming."

Your Tax Dollars at Work. DOJ Won't Retract Its Very Trumpy Anti-Immigrant "Report." Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department has acknowledged errors and deficiencies in a controversial report issued a year ago that implied a link between terrorism in the United States and immigration, but -- for the second and final time -- officials have declined to retract or correct the document.... The report was written in compliance with President Trump's March 2017 executive order halting immigration from six majority-Muslim countries.... Released by the departments of Justice and Homeland Security, the report stated that 402 of 549 individuals -- nearly 3 in 4 -- convicted of international terrorism charges since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were foreign-born.... [But] it is unclear how many were foreign-born...." About 100 of the 402 were people accused of committing terrorist acts in foreign countries, then extradicted to the U.S. These would not be "immigrants." At least 189 of the 549 were convicted with crimes not related to terrorism. "One flaw the Justice Department acknowledged was the report's assertion that between 2003 and 2009, immigrants were convicted of 69,929 sex offenses.... [But] the nearly 70,000 offenses spanned a period from 1955 to 2010 -- 55 years, not six; the data covered arrests, not convictions; and one arrest could be for multiple offenses...." ...

... Another Very Trumpy Whopper. Julia Ainsley: "White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Friday that Customs and Border Protection picked up nearly 4,000 known or suspected terrorists last year 'that came across our southern border.' But in fact, the figure she seems to be citing is based on 2017 data, not 2018, and refers to stops made by Department of Homeland Security across the globe, mainly at airports. In fiscal 2017, the latest year for which data is available, according to agency data and the White House's own briefing sheet, the Department of Homeland Security prevented nearly 4,000 known or suspected terrorists from 'traveling to or entering the United States.' According to Justice Department public records and two former counterterrorism officials, no immigrant has been arrested at the southwest border on terrorism charges in recent years."

Ken Vogel of the New York Times: "Congress is reviewing the Trump administration's decision to lift sanctions on companies owned by Oleg V. Deripaska, an influential Russian oligarch with close ties to President Vladimir V. Putin, Democrats said on Friday. The reviews could fuel a congressional effort to block the administration's decision, which came after an aggressive lobbying and legal campaign against the sanctions by Mr. Deripaska's corporate empire. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, laid the groundwork to block the lifting of the sanctions on Friday, filing a congressional resolution disapproving of the move by the Treasury Department.... To keep the sanctions in place, the resolution would have to be approved by both chambers of Congress before Jan. 18. That seems unlikely, given that it would require the Senate's Republican majority to split with the administration." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's not forget Deripaska's "close ties" to President* Trump; he was a big client of Trump's former campaign chair Paul Manafort, who sought to pay off a huge financial debt to Deripaska with special "favors." Lifting sanctions is a helluva favor.

Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "Hours after she was sworn in to Congress, Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib used an expletive Thursday in pushing for impeaching ... Donald Trump. Speaking to a crowd at an event sponsored by the progressive group MoveOn, Tlaib recalled the moment she won her election in November. 'And when your son looks at you and says, "Mama look, you won. Bullies don't win," and I said, "Baby, they don't," because we're gonna go in there and we're going to impeach the motherf[ucke]r,' Tlaib said Thursday, speaking of Trump, according to a video posted on Twitter...." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Leigh Ann Caldwell of NBC News: "... Nancy Pelosi on Friday shied away from moving forward with impeachment at this time, calling it a 'divisive' option and saying that a colleague's use of an expletive to describe ... Donald Trump was no 'worse' than some of the language the president himself has used. 'I do think that we want to be unified and bring people together. Impeachment is a very divisive approach to take and we shouldn't take it ... without the facts,' Pelosi said during an MSNBC town hall at Trinity University in Washington, her alma mater." (Also linked yesterday.)

Mrs. McCrabbie: I would not vote for any of these Republican Congressmen, two of whom are freshmen, but I would give them a heartfelt, humble vote of thanks:

5 eyes. 5 arms. 4 legs. All American.

Welcome to Congress, @ElectJimBaird & @DanCrenshawTX. pic.twitter.com/NU7YnbAE4u

— Rep. Brian Mast (@RepBrianMast) January 3, 2019

... Caitlin Doornbos of Stars & Stripes: "Army veteran and Florida Rep. Brian Mast tweeted a photo Thursday marking the swearing-in ceremony of fellow wounded veterans and Republican congressmen Jim Baird and Dan Crenshaw.... Mast lost both legs in 2010 while clearing improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan; Baird, R-Ind., lost an arm while serving in the Vietnam War with the Army; and Crenshaw, R-Texas, lost an eye in a 2012 IED blast while serving in the Navy SEALs in Afghanistan."

Tiffany May of the New York Times: "On the eve of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's swearing-in as the youngest woman ever elected to the House of Representatives, video footage from her college days suddenly appeared on the internet. The video showed Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, 29, dancing barefoot on a rooftop. If it was meant to be an embarrassing leak, it backfired badly.... A dubbed and edited version of the original footage surfaced when a Twitter account with the handle @AnonymousQ1776 published it online. 'Here is America's favorite commie know-it-all acting like the clueless nitwit she is,' read the tweet from @AnonymousQ1776, which incorrectly described it as a video from her high school days. The account has since been deleted." And this: "When Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, dressed in white in homage to suffragists and pioneering women in politics, officially took office in Washington on Thursday, Republicans booed her. To which she replied on Twitter: 'Over 200 members voted for Nancy Pelosi today, yet the GOP only booed one: me. Don't hate me cause you ain't me, fellas.'" ...

James Arkin of Politico: "Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) announced Friday that he will retire in 2020 instead of running for reelection. Roberts, 82, has served four terms in the Senate and last won reelection in 2014 after facing a bruising Republican primary." (Also linked yesterday.)

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to take another look at whether the Constitution bars extreme partisan gerrymandering. The move followed two decisions in June in which the justices sidestepped the question in cases from Wisconsin and Maryland. Those earlier cases had raised the possibility that the court might decide for the first time, that some election maps were so warped by politics that they crossed a constitutional line. Challengers had pinned their hopes on Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who had expressed ambivalence on the subject, but he and his colleagues appeared unable to identify a workable constitutional test. Justice Kennedy's replacement by Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh makes a ruling limiting partisan gerrymandering less likely, election law experts said. Indeed, the court could rule that the Constitution imposes no limits on the practice."

Stranger & Stranger. Paul Sonne, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Marine Corps found Paul Whelan, the American citizen detained by Russia on espionage charges, guilty of attempting to steal more than $10,000 worth of currency from the U.S. government while deployed to Iraq in 2006 and bouncing nearly $6,000 worth of checks around the same time [and other charges], according to records obtained by The Washington Post. The details of the charges against Whelan from a special court-martial two years later, which resulted in his discharge for bad conduct, add to an increasingly complex picture of the 48-year-old former Marine, whom Russian officials have accused of spying. His case grew more perplexing on Friday after Ireland became the fourth nation to acknowledge him as a citizen and seek consular access.... People who served alongside Whelan said he was learning Russian and traveled to Moscow and St. Petersburg on vacation during the same deployment in which the Marine Corps accused him of attempted larceny.... Whelan also had an active profile for years on the Russian social media platform VKontakte.... [Besides his U.S. citizenship,] Whelan also carried passports from Canada, where he was born, as well as from Britain and Ireland."

Beyond the Beltway

Maine. Micheal Shepherd of the Bangor Daily News: "A state legislator from York County left the Republican Party on Thursday without explaining his decision to unenroll, reducing the party's minority in the Maine House of Representatives to 56 and becoming the seventh independent in the chamber. Rep. Don Marean confirmed that he left his party in a Friday text message, but he said 'out of respect' for House Republicans, he had no comment on his decision and would let it speak for itself.... Democrats won 89 seats in the 151-member chamber in last year's election."

The Commentariat -- January 4, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Michael Tackett & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "President Trump threatened on Friday to keep the federal government partially closed for 'months or even years' if he does not get money to build a wall along the southern border, but he also expressed optimism he could reach agreement with congressional Democrats within days. Mr. Trump and Democratic leaders emerged from a two-hour meeting without a deal to reopen government agencies that have already been shuttered for 14 days and offered sharply contrasting views of where they stood. Democrats called the meeting 'contentious' while the president and Republican allies called it 'productive.'... Mr. Trump had no hostile words for the opposition.... He designated Vice President Mike Pence, Kirstjen Nielsen, the Homeland Security secretary, and Jared Kushner..., the president's son-in-law and senior adviser to meet with congressional representatives this weekend."

How do you impeach a president who has won perhaps the greatest election of all time, done nothing wrong (no Collusion with Russia, it was the Dems that Colluded), had the most successful first two years of any president, and is the most popular Republican in party history 93%? -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this morning

I did not lift this from the Onion; this is a real tweet Trump wrote this morning. It represents either (a) one purposeful lie after another, or (b) grounds to immediately invoke the Twentyfifth Amendment. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Jonathan Chait: "Basic facts about Trump's life, which would have been thoroughly plumbed were he any other presidential candidate, are only starting to be investigated.... One reason Trump has escaped scrutiny, of course, is that he has withheld his tax returns.... Trump has an obvious motive to conceal his decades of dependency on his father's largesse, as well as the apparent role played by Russian money laundering in replacing those cash infusions after his father's money ran out.... Measured in absolute terms, or against other candidates, Trump was subject to harsh, unrelenting scrutiny. But measured against the scale of his own dark past, he skated into office with barely any vetting at all, abetted by decades of friendly propaganda.... The review of Trump's life is only beginning now. It will probably tell us that Trump is not merely a politician who has abused his power, or a businessman who has cut corners. He is a criminal who happened to be elected president." Thanks to MAG for the link.

Nancy Cook of Politico: "... Donald Trump's new acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, is already putting his stamp on the West Wing after just a few days on the job. While his recently departed predecessor, Gen. John Kelly, often tried to restrain ... Donald Trump, Mulvaney -- who has said he won&'t seek to be a check on the impulsive president -- has been egging on the president in his confrontation with congressional Democrats over a border wall."

Peter Whoriskey & Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "While many federal workers go without pay and the government is partially shut down, hundreds of senior Trump political appointees are poised to receive annual raises of about $10,000 a year. The pay raises for cabinet secretaries, deputy secretaries, top administrators and even Vice President Mike Pence are scheduled to go into effect beginning Jan. 5 without legislation to stop them.... The raises appear to be an intended consequence of the shutdown: When lawmakers failed to pass bills on Dec. 21 to fund multiple federal agencies, they allowed an existing pay freeze to lapse.... Cabinet secretaries, for example, would be entitled to a jump in annual salary from $199,700 to $210,700."

Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "Hours after she was sworn in to Congress, Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib used an expletive Thursday in pushing for impeaching ... Donald Trump. Speaking to a crowd at an event sponsored by the progressive group MoveOn, Tlaib recalled the moment she won her election in November. 'And when your son looks at you and says, "Mama look, you won. Bullies don't win," and I said, "Baby, they don't," because we're gonna go in there and we're going to impeach the motherf[ucke]r,' Tlaib said Thursday, speaking of Trump...." ...

... Leigh Ann Caldwell of NBC News: "... Nancy Pelosi on Friday shied away from moving forward with impeachment at this time, calling it a 'divisive' option and saying that a colleague's use of an expletive to describe ... Donald Trump was no 'worse' than some of the language the president himself has used. 'I do think that we want to be unified and bring people together. Impeachment is a very divisive approach to take and we shouldn't take it ... without the facts,' Pelosi said during an MSNBC town hall at Trinity University in Washington, her alma mater."

James Arkin of Politico: "Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) announced Friday that he will retire in 2020 instead of running for reelection. Roberts, 82, has served four terms in the Senate and last won reelection in 2014 after facing a bruising Republican primary."

*****

Julie Davis of the New York Times: "On a day of pomp and pageantry, ebullient Democrats assumed control of the House on Thursday and elected Representative Nancy Pelosi of California to be speaker, returning her to a historic distinction as the first woman to hold the post at the pinnacle of power in Congress, second in line to the presidency. The investiture of Ms. Pelosi, whose talent for legislative maneuvering is surpassed only by her skill at keeping her fractious party in line, placed her at the fulcrum of divided government opposite an increasingly combative President Trump. With Mr. Trump, his presidential campaign and his businesses all under federal and state investigations, her handling of him will likely define the 116th Congress." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Paul Krugman schools Pelosi on deficit spending. "... while fiscal prudence is always necessary, for Democrats to put spending in a straitjacket -- especially when Republicans have shown themselves completely irresponsible -- looks like a bad move."

Burgess Everett & Sarah Ferris of Politico: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday used her first day in power to attempt to end a government shutdown that's lurching into its third week while denying any new money for ... Donald Trump's border wall. Just before 10 p.m., the Democrat-controlled House voted to fully fund nearly all of the government agencies that have been shuttered since Dec. 22. The House also voted to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security.... On Thursday afternoon the White House officially issued a veto threat, and the president also held an event with the National Border Patrol Council [-- the border patrol agents' union --] at the White House, during which the president said he's 'never had so much support as I've [had] in the last week over my stance for border security.'" Mrs. McC: The report doesn't say so, but according to MSNBC, a handful of House Republicans voted with Democrats to fund the government. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The "event," which Trump inexplicably held in the Brady press briefing room -- a venue into which he has never stepped before but where he nevertheless refused to take questions from the hastily-assembled press, who thought they were there to be briefed on something -- was a stunt requiring all of the extras to shave their heads:

     ... Mrs. McC, Ctd: This was a clown show, people. I expected, at the very least, to see some acrobatics. But nothing. Maybe the Screen Extras Guild wouldn't let them perform without pay, shutdown or not. ...

     ... Dara Lind of Vox: "... Donald Trump's hastily called 'press conference' on Thursday afternoon ... was less a press conference, in the traditional sense, than a way for Trump to signal-boost a politically helpful message. And that message, delivered by Brandon Judd, Art Del Cueto, and Hector Garza of the National Border Patrol Council (the union representing Border Patrol agents) was this: Border Patrol agents are willing to keep the government shut down for as long as it takes to get the money Trump wants for his border wall -- even if that means they have to continue working without pay. Generally, a public sector union would hardly be expected to make a public appearance urging Congress not to pass a bill that would start paying their salaries again. But Judd and the other leaders of the National Border Patrol Council aren't your typical public sector union -- and have now become, by all appearances, closer allies to Trump than some of his appointed officials.... It's worth noting that National Border Patrol Council executives get paid salaries by the union.... The executives have something of a cushion; their members do not." ...

... The Faux Presidency. Steve M: "[T]he president ... had a message, and he brought along guests to deliver it: Why these agents? Well, Fox News frequently hosts [Brandon] Judd, [Art] Del Cueto, and [Hector] Garza -- go to the links to read Fox stories and see Fox clips.... Also, curiously, Judd doesn't even work on the southern border anymore, according to the Times -- he's stationed in Montana.... So this was just Fox News in the White House briefing room, nothing more." --s ...

     ... The Bald Head of Courage. Mrs. McCrabbie: Looks as if President* I-Know-More-Than-the-Generals is replacing his ersatz admiration for chestfuls of brass to crazy bald-headed Border Patrol union leaders. This would be one area where Trump actually shows his "populism." Generals of course are at the top of the food chain & most are highly-educated in matters military. The Border Patrol, on the other hand, is kind of a dumping ground for law enforcement applicants who don't qualify for more prestigious jobs at the FBI, Secret Service, etc. Agents are not required to have college degrees. Of course by "populism" here, we mean people who support Trump, not people Trump supports.

... Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) warned reporters on Thursday that the partial government shutdown could last for the 'long haul' with no clear way out in sight. '... I don't see any quick resolution to this,' Shelby told reporters. Shelby separately told reporters that the shutdown could last for 'months and months.'... 'My personal preference [is] we already would have had all these bills done as you well know.... Right now, let's see what happens. At the moment things don't look good, as far as reaching a resolution,' Shelby added." ...

... BUT. Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Republican unity on the partial government shutdown is starting to crack in the face a tough election map in 2020 and no end in sight to the standoff that has hobbled key departments and agencies. At least three Senate Republicans on Thursday called on Congress to move on legislation to reopen federal agencies -- or as many as possible -- that have been shuttered since Dec. 22.... Mitch McConnell< (R-Ky.) has declared any legislation passed by the House to fully reopen federal agencies will be a non-starter in the Senate but he may have trouble keeping all his troops in line."Sens. Cory Gardner (Colo.), Susan Collins (Me.), Shelly Capito (W. Va.) & Mike Rounds (S.D.) all suggested ways the government, or most of the shuttered departments, could reopen soon. ...

... AND Sheryl Stolberg & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "... [Mitch] McConnell for the first time is facing pressure from members of his own party to step in to resolve the stalemate that has left 800,000 federal workers either furloughed or working without pay. By absenting himself, Mr. McConnell had hoped to push the blame for a prolonged shutdown onto Democrats while protecting Republicans running for re-election in 2020 -- including himself.... He has repeatedly said he will not bring up legislation that Mr. Trump does not support -- a point he reiterated in a speech on Thursday on the Senate floor.... After two years of trying to advance Mr. Trump's agenda, Mr. McConnell now sees his primary job as standing in the way of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who vowed in her inaugural speech on Thursday to 'reach across the aisle in this chamber.'..." ...

... AND Jordain Carney: "Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Thursday that a House package to fully reopen the government could pass the Senate -- if Republicans would give it a vote.... Schumer blamed Trump on Thursday for the partial shutdown and questioned why senators should let 'a temper tantrum determine how we vote.'" ...

... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Ari Melber of MSNBC, in noting that Trump promised Mexico would pay for the wall, said, "This has to be the first time in history a president shut down the government over his own broken promise." (paraphrase) No link. ...

... Campbell Robertson, et al., of the New York Times: "By Saturday, the federal government will have been shut down for two weeks, a full pay cycle for federal workers. If the shutdown lasts through Monday, it will surpass the one of 2013, and if it lasts beyond the following Saturday, it will be the longest shutdown in United States history. Politicians have said they were hopeful that the standoff could be over in a matter of 'days and weeks,' a reassurance that rang hollow to hundreds of thousands of federal workers who were not getting paid.... Nearly all of those affected, the contractors, furloughed employees and employees who were working without pay, were experiencing a growing, gnawing anxiety.... The impasse may be centered within a few blocks in Washington, D.C., but the federal work force shouldering the burden is spread across the country.... Less-populated areas may be hit disproportionately hard, including small towns such as Pollock, La., where the biggest employer is a federal penitentiary.... In addition to the federal workers, thousands of people who work for contractors -- cleaning offices or serving food -- are missing wages, but are not considered in proposed legislation that promises back pay once a deal is worked out." ...

I was in the White House all by myself for six or seven days. It was very lonely. My family was down in Florida. I said stay there and enjoy yourself.... I was here on Christmas evening. I was all by myself in the White House. It's a big, big house -- except for the guys on the lawn with machine guns.... But I was all alone with the machine gunners.... [My job would be] a lot easier if I just relaxed and enjoyed the presidency like a lot of other people have done. -- Donald Trump, Wednesday ...

... Annie Karni of the New York Times: "The one thing President Trump has not talked about publicly during 13 days of the partial government shutdown is the 800,000 federal workers who are not being paid because of it. Mr. Trump's apparent indifference to the Transportation Security Administration agents, correctional officers, scientists and other federal employees caught in the cross hairs of a political standoff presents a remarkable contrast with how other presidents have made a point of trying to demonstrate their empathy during other shutdowns. In 2013, for instance, President Barack Obama wrote an open letter to the workers affected when the government was closed. 'None of this is fair to you,' he wrote, adding, 'You and your families remain at the front of my mind.'... Mr. Trump's one mention of government employees in his daily Twitter blasts in recent weeks made it that clear he viewed many of them as a hostile force, part of the 'deep state' he and his supporters mistrust. 'Do the Dems realize that most of the people not getting paid are Democrats?' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter last week." ...

... William Saletan of Slate on Trump's "explanations" for the shutdown. Funny, in a pathetic sort of way, more so if you're not directly affected by this particular manifestation of Trump's caprice.

They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. -- Donald Trump, announcing his candidacy for president in 2015 ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump has shut down the government in a melodramatic effort to blackmail Congress into sending him unnecessary billions, supposedly to deter immigrants (but actually to boost his re-election chances). Because undocumented immigrants are such a threat to Americans. Oh, wait. Except those who work for him: ...

... Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: "A former employee of the Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey said that her name was removed from a list of workers to be vetted by the Secret Service after she reminded management that she was unlawfully in the United States, the latest worker to assert that supervisors at the elite resort were aware that some members of their work force were undocumented.... Emma Torres ... said that she told a human resources employee, whose name she does not know, that she did not have legal status. She said that the woman replied, '"It's O.K. No problem." She scratched me off the list,' [but did not terminate Torres or other undocumented workers at the club]. The Bedminster golf club has recently terminated several workers who were determined to be ineligible to work in the country, according to several people familiar with the matter, following a New York Times report that revealed that immigrants who presented false documents were knowingly kept on the payroll, sometimes for years. A lawyer representing the women has met with investigators from the New Jersey attorney general's office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, presenting what he said was evidence that managers at the golf club knew that some workers were in the country illegally, and that at least one supervisor helped an employee obtain forged working documents." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I assume these Bedminister employees are the "good people"; not the criminals & rapists.

That Crazy "Cabinet Meeting"

Today's Presidential* Mystery. Who Has Donald's Ear? Rachel Maddow Is on the Case. Maddow, as is her wont, devoted two segments to this mystery, but the answer to the question, as yet a secret, is worth discovering. In yesterday's Commentariat, we linked Aaron Blake's take on Trump's "bizarre" aside during his rambling "Cabinet meeting" Wednesday on the history of the Soviet Union's disastrous war in Afghanistan. But, as Maddow pointed out, Trump's weird take precisely mirrors the Kremlin's new revisionist history of its "reason" for its war of aggression in Afghanistan: mythical Afghan terrorists sneaking into Russian territory. Then Maddow noted two other instances in which Trump, out of nowhere again, mimicked obscure Russian talking points, talking points at odd with, um, facts: (1) a claim he made this past summer that Montenegro was likely to start World War III because Montenegrans are "very aggressive people." (1) Right after he took office, the AP reported that the Trump administration was concerned about Poland's invading Belarus, another made-up piece of Russian propaganda. Clearly, somebody is feeding Trump Kremlin spin. No link. ...

... ** "To See Oursels as Ithers See Us!" Terry Glavin of Macleans (Canada) on Trump's claim that the Soviet Union was right to invade Afghanistan. Mrs. McC: This is a refreshing take on, well, us. The column begins, "It's been two years since a reality-television mogul, billionaire real estate grifter and sleazy beauty-pageant impresario who somehow ended up on the Republican ticket in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, failed to win the popular vote but fluked his way into the White House anyhow by means of an antique back-door anomaly peculiar to the American political system known as the Electoral College. We're now at the half-way mark of Donald Trump's term in the White House, and the relentless hum of his casual imbecilities, obscenities, banalities and outright fabrications has become so routine to the world's daily dread that it is now just background noise in the ever-louder bedlam of America's dystopian, freak-show political culture." ...

... Professor Juan Cole Schools the Presidunce: "'A Commentary on the words that spewed from Trump's mouth at his news conference during a cabinet meeting on January 2, 2019,' or, 'A Ph.D. who has been teaching at a public Ivy since 1984 is forced to spend his time chasing the rabid ferrets running around in the head of a decrepit reality t.v. star whom my compatriots in their wisdom made president'" --s ...

... Steve Benen: "About halfway through Donald Trump's odd cabinet meeting at the White House [Wednesday], Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker delivered some brief, gushing remarks about his deep admiration for his boss. 'Sir, Mr. President,' Whitaker said, 'I will start by highlighting the fact that you stayed in Washington, D.C. over the holidays, giving up Christmas with your family, New Year's with your family, trying to bring an end to this shutdown and security to our southern border, while members of Congress ... went on vacation and ignored the problem.'... But the president didn't spend late December 'trying to bring an end to this shutdown.' Rather, he spent the holidays tweeting and watching television. Trump could've held negotiations, called Congress to return to session, or worked the phones with lawmakers, trying to work out a deal, but he didn't do any of these things. In fact, there's no evidence of him doing any meaningful work on the issue at all." ...

... Chris Cillizza of CNN: "Like much of Trump's presidency, the [Cabinet] event felt entirely free-form -- as if Trump was making all of it up as he went. He seemed to support the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, proclaimed that he would have made a good military general and spouted falsehoods at an alarming rate -- even for him. I went through the transcript of the question-and-answer portion of Trump's Cabinet meeting and picked out the most, uh, noteworthy lines." Mrs. McC: Chris Cillizza is far from a serious guy, but compared to Trump, Cillizza is the Sage of Mount Washingtonia. Thanks to Ken W. for the link. ...

... Susan Glasser of the New Yorker: "... in general, Washington these days is hardly a town for optimists.... And how could it be, in this opening to the third year of Trump's Presidency?... Trump sent out a New Year's message on Tuesday that conveyed less year-opening enthusiasm than it did a warning about the crazy times to come.... On January 2nd, he convened a Cabinet meeting that seemed fully in keeping with his promise of a wild ride, offering an unscripted, extended look at a Presidency in meltdown mode.... The President's long discourse was a grievance-filled litany that offered little in the way of comfort for optimists of any party...."

Drumpy by the Numbers. Ryan Koronoswki of ThinkProgress: "Here is the truth of how the Trump administration is doing, looking at the numbers.... America's trade deficit hit $55.5 billion in October, rising almost a billion dollars from September. This is a ten-year high.... For the first time in almost a decade, the rate of uninsured children in the United States increased.... 276,000 more kids didn't have coverage in 2017 than in 2016, raising the total to 3.9 million.... Zero miles of new wall have been completed.... [Trump] also signed legislation opening up 1.5 million acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration. This paired with some additional public lands changes ... adds up to 3.3 million acres which lost protections.... [A] Pew survey found that 70 percent of people across the globe said they lacked confidence in Trump&'s ability to do the right thing in world affairs.... Obama's rating [was] 64 percent at the end.... [I]n 2018, more coal-fired electricity generation capacity will be shut down than ever before -- 15.4 gigawatts, to be precise.... [T]here are actually 17 total investigations targeting Trump and his businesses[.]" --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alan Yuhas of the New York Times: "Mexico has asked the United States for an investigation into American border officers' actions along the nations' shared border, two days after agents near San Diego used tear gas, smoke and pepper spray to repel a group of migrants trying to cross into the United States. On Thursday, Mexico's Foreign Ministry said it sent a diplomatic note to the United States Embassy about two episodes, on Jan. 1 and Nov. 25, in which American agents sent tear gas into Mexico near San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. The note requested 'a thorough investigation' and 'deplores the occurrence of any sort of violent act on the border with Mexico,' the ministry said in a statement. Mexican officials also repeated their 'commitment to safeguard the human rights and safety of all migrants,' and said they would hold a meeting with the United States Department of Homeland Security and the Border Violence Prevention Council, a joint American-Mexican body meant to prevent violence at the border." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: The first thing I thought when I read about U.S. Border Patrol agents firing tear gas into Mexico was, "Why is the Mexican government putting up with this? This is a violent, weaponized foreign attack on their country." Apparently, the new government agrees with me.

Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department's public integrity section is examining whether newly departed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke lied to his agency's inspector general investigators, according to three people familiar with the matter, a potential criminal violation that would exacerbate Zinke's legal woes. Zinke, who left the Trump administration Wednesday, was facing two inspector general inquiries tied to his real estate dealings in his home state of Montana and his involvement in reviewing a proposed casino project by Native American tribes in Connecticut. In the course of that work, inspector general investigators came to believe Zinke had lied to them, and they referred the matter to the Justice Department to consider whether any laws were violated.... The Justice Department's interest in the matter is significant, signaling prosecutors felt Zinke's account was suspect and warranted further scrutiny. Department officials have not yet decided, though, whether he should face charges, people familiar with the matter said."

Clean-up Ops. Margaret Talev & Nick Wadhams of Bloomberg: "Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton plan to crisscross the Middle East to reassure nervous U.S. allies after ... Donald Trump's surprise withdrawal from Syria and Jim Mattis's resignation as defense secretary.... The two men face allies worried that Trump is ceding influence in the Middle East to Iran after his announcement that he'd remove U.S. military forces from Syria -- apparently a snap decision made during a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan." ...

... Thomas Gibbons-Neff & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The Trump administration is considering Jim Webb, a former Democratic senator and Reagan-era secretary of the Navy, to be the next defense secretary, according to three officials, potentially bypassing more hawkish Republicans whose names have been floated to replace Jim Mattis. Mr. Webb, an outspoken opponent of the Iraq war, is being considered as President Trump seeks to carry out campaign promises to withdraw American troops from Syria and Afghanistan.... How seriously he is being considered was unclear...."

Ben Schreckinger of Politico: "A pair of senior Senate Democrats are threatening to block the Trump administration's invitation of a sanctioned Russian official to visit the U.S. The threats -- from Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Robert Menendez of New Jersey -- come in response to a recent Politico report about NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine's invitation to his Russian counterpart to visit Houston and speak at Rice University some time early this year.... The sanctioned official, Dmitry Rogozin, currently leads the Russian space agency, Roscosmos and previously served as deputy prime minister. He is among several Russian officials barred from entering the country under sanctions imposed by the Obama administration for their role in Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea. Rogozin is also an ultranationalist infamous at home and abroad for racist, homophobic and harsh anti-American rhetoric." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Why are we not surprised by Bridenstine's invitation to a racist, homophobic nationalist? Here's an excerpt from Sen. Patty Murray's (D-Wash.) floor speech opposing Bridenstine's confirmation to head NASA:

Rep. Bridenstine has openly expressed his opposition to the rights of LGBTQ individuals, immigrants, and women. In a May 2013 speech, he suggested that LGBTQ people were immoral, stating, 'some of us in America still believe in the concept of sexual morality.' And in response to the Supreme Court's marriage equality ruling in 2013, he stated that he would keep fighting for 'traditional marriage.' Rep. Bridenstine has a history of supporting anti-Muslim groups and has consistently defended a number of President Trump's discriminatory policies on immigration, including the Muslim Travel Ban. He defended President Trump's comments about sexually assaulting women, saying they were 'locker room talk.' He has gone on shows and stages to stand with bigots and racists -- not to debate with them, but to agree with them. -- Sen. Patty Murray, April 18, 2018

Josh Lederman of NBC News: "On the first day of the new Senate, top Republicans are pushing back on President Trump's move to >withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria with a bill imposing new sanctions on the country and boosting security cooperation with neighboring Israel and Jordan. Although Congress can't force the commander-in-chief to keep troops in Syria, Senate aides say the move is designed to illustrate the need for a strong, continuing U.S. presence in the Middle East and re-assert the role of Congress on national security.... Senate Bill 1, introduced Thursday by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is being co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and incoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch of Idaho. It's expected to be considered under what's known as Rule 14, which lets a bill bypass the time-consuming committee process and head directly to the Senate floor. Senate officials say they expect it to be one of the first pieces of business taken up by the new Senate."

Ed Kilgore: In the wake of Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members' disastrous performances during the Kavanaugh hearings, "Republicans hastened to supply some gender balance -- or cover, depending on how you look at it -- from the slim ranks of Republican women. They've placed Iowa's Joni Ernst and Tennessee's Marsha Blackburn on the committee. What Ernst and Blackburn ... bring to the table other than gender diversity are two assets: unquestioned party loyalty (Ernst recently joined the Senate GOP leadership, and Blackburn was in the House leadership) and a fervent commitment to the cause of outlawing abortion." Read on for their horrifying anti-abortion creds.

Linda Greenhouse: "Perhaps you haven't realized that the Supreme Court’s disinclination to expand on its landmark 2008 decision creating an individual right to gun ownership means that the justices are treating the Second Amendment as a 'second-class right.' A 'watered-down right.' A 'disfavored right.' If you are unaware of these outlandish claims, then you haven't tuned into the rising chorus of judicial voices demanding more from the Supreme Court than gun fanciers already won in that intensely disputed 5-to-4 decision a decade ago, District of Columbia v. Heller.... Justice Thomas ... has taken up the phrase ['second-class-right'] as a weapon, using it in a series of opinions over the past four years to accuse his colleagues of failing in their duty to keep pushing back against limitations on gun ownership and use.... On his former court, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Justice Kavanaugh took an aggressive gun-rights position.... The Supreme Court's appetite for expanding the Second Amendment, if such an appetite develops, will be wildly out of sync with the mood of the country.&"

Kevin Rawlinson of the Guardian: "The former US marine who is being held in Moscow on charges of spying is a British citizen, it has emerged. Paul Whelan, who is thought to be facing 20 years in a Russian prison if convicted, was initially thought to be American, but was revealed to be a dual national on Thursday evening. The UK Foreign Office said: 'Our staff have requested consular access to a British man detained in Russia after receiving a request for assistance from him.'... The US ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman, met Whelan at Lefortovo prison, the former KGB facility where he is being held, the same day.... Whelan works for a Michigan-based car parts supplier and, according to the Rosbalt news agency, was arrested shortly after receiving a USB drive containing a classified list of names." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Hmmm. Wonder if this dual-citizenship thing will change any plans Trump might have had to quickly trade Whelan for Maria Butina, the Russian who is cooperating with U.S. authorities & might implicate the NRA & other Trump supporters in criminal acts.

Beyond the Beltway

Zak Cheney-Rice of New York: "Voters dissatisfied with their local prosecutors -- who in several high-profile cases have shielded police from accountability by declining to charge them for killing unarmed black boys and men -- have sent old officials packing in favor of more reform-minded replacements. New top prosecutors in places like Cook County, Illinois, and Orange and Osceola Counties, Florida, have taken office on vows to curtail their predecessors' more punitive practices, especially concerning black and brown people. Nowhere was this more apparent than in St. Louis County, Missouri, where former-Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch guided a grand jury into declining charges against Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for killing Michael Brown, a black teenager, in 2014. In August, McCulloch was primaried into early retirement by Wesley Bell, a fellow Democrat and black former Ferguson city councilman.... Since his swearing in on Tuesday, he has wasted little time demonstrating his intentions to fulfill his promise to 'fundamentally change the culture' of the office that his predecessor held for 27 years."

Florida. Casey Quilan of ThinkProgress: "A state-appointed commission investigating last year's school shooting in Parkland, Florida has issued a report that includes a recommendation to arm teachers [and install bulletproof glass]. The commission unanimously approved the report Wednesday.... An FBI study of 163 instances of mass shootings found that only one shooting was stopped by one armed person, compared to 21 shootings that were stopped by unarmed people.... Some of the other recommendations in the commission's report include mandatory lockdown training for teachers, increasing taxes to raise funds for more school security, doors that lock from the inside, safe areas for students to hide, and bulletproof glass on school windows." --s

Illinois. "Chicago Politics." Big Fish, Big Pond. Jason Meisner of the Chicago Tribune: "Longtime Ald. Edward Burke, one of Chicago's most powerful figures and a vestige of the city's old Democratic machine, has ... been ... charged ... with attempted extortion for allegedly using his position as alderman to try to steer business to his private law firm from a company seeking to renovate a fast-food restaurant in his ward. The charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.... The [federal criminal] complaint also alleged Burke asked one of the company's executives in December 2017 to attend an upcoming political fundraiser for 'another politician.' Sources identified the politician as Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who is running for Chicago mayor.... Prosecutors revealed during [a] 10-minute [bond] hearing [Thursday] that the FBI found 23 guns in the raids on Burke's City Hall and ward offices in November."

Maine. What a Difference a Democrat Makes. Joe Lawlor of the Portland Press Herald: "Gov. Janet Mills signed an executive order Thursday to expand Medicaid, fulfilling a campaign vow that ends the long delays imposed by the fervent opposition of her Republican predecessor, Paul LePage. More than 70,000 Mainers will be eligible for MaineCare health insurance under the expansion. Mills, who had promised to act on 'day one' of her administration, was sworn into office Wednesday evening and signed 'Executive Order 1' on Thursday.... 'More than a year ago, the people of Maine voted to expand Medicaid. Today, my administration is taking the long-awaited steps to fulfill their will,' Mills, a Democrat, said in a written statement." ...

... Eric Russell of the Portland Press Herald: "Paul LePage's last-minute pardon as governor of a former Republican lawmaker from Dresden for a drug trafficking conviction 35 years ago went against the recommendation of his own board on executive clemency. In fact, the board didn't even schedule a public hearing before rejecting the pardon request of Jeffrey Pierce, which makes LePage's decision even more unusual, said Lenny Sharon, an Auburn attorney who served on the board for 23 years. 'I've never seen it happen,' Sharon said. Other pardons were issued by LePage during his final days in office. It's possible that some were done in the same manner as Pierce's, but there is no way of knowing because Maine law was updated last year to make all pardon decisions confidential." Read on to see why the clemency board disapproved Pierce's application.

News Lede

New York Times: "The Labor Department released its official hiring and unemployment figures for December on Friday morning, offering the latest picture of the American economy. 312,000 jobs were added last month. Wall Street analysts had anticipated an increase of about 180,000.... The unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent. November's jobless rate was 3.7 percent.... The average hourly wage rose by 3.2 percent from a year earlier.... In the last couple of months, as stocks swayed and concern over the prospect of a recession ensued, the labor market was relatively steady. And December's numbers ended the year with a flourish.... And the unemployment rate seems to have risen for good reasons -- more people are being drawn into the job market, perhaps because of higher wages."

The Commentariat -- January 3, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Julie Davis of the New York Times: "On a day of pomp and pageantry, ebullient Democrats assumed control of the House on Thursday and elected Representative Nancy Pelosi of California to be speaker, returning her to a historic distinction as the first woman to hold the post at the pinnacle of power in Congress, second in line to the presidency. The investiture of Ms. Pelosi, whose talent for legislative maneuvering is surpassed only by her skill at keeping her fractious party in line, placed her at the fulcrum of divided government opposite an increasingly combative President Trump. With Mr. Trump, his presidential campaign and his businesses all under federal and state investigations, her handling of him will likely define the 116th Congress."

Drumpy by the Numbers. Ryan Koronoswki of ThinkProgress: "Here is the truth of how the Trump administration is doing, looking at the numbers.... America's trade deficit hit $55.5 billion in October, rising almost a billion dollars from September. This is a ten-year high.... For the first time in almost a decade, the rate of uninsured children in the United States increased.... <276,000 more kids didn't have coverage in 2017 than in 2016, raising the total to 3.9 million.... Zero miles of new wall have been completed.... [Trump] also signed legislation opening up 1.5 million acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration. This paired with some additional public lands changes ... adds up to 3.3 million acres which lost protections.... [A] survey found that 70 percent of people across the globe said they lacked confidence in Trump's ability to do the right thing in world affairs.... Obama's rating [was] 64 percent at the end.... [I]n 2018, more coal-fired electricity generation capacity will be shut down than ever before -- 15.4 gigawatts, to be precise.... [T]here are actually 17 total investigations targeting Trump and his businesses[.]" --s

*****

Monica Hunter-Hart of Bustle: "... new members of the House and Senate are about to take their seats. The election of the 116th Congress was a historic event for women's representation in the U.S. government, so you may want to tune in to its first day on Thursday.... C-SPAN and C-SPAN2 will be streaming the ceremony, which is set to begin at 12 p.m. ET.... There will be some other noteworthy events on the same day: Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) will likely be elected the next speaker of the House.... A whopping 102 women will take their seats in the House, by Pew Research Center's count. That's nearly a quarter of its voting members. Of those women, 35 (or 34.3 percent) are entering Congress for the first time. Rutgers reports that the previous record for female representatives elected to the House was 87. Exactly a quarter of the Senate will now be made up of women, as 25 women, five of whom are new, will be sworn in on Thursday. The prior record was 23, per Rutgers. The vast majority of women serving in both chambers are Democrats." ...

... Clare Foran & Phil Mattingly of CNN: "There are record numbers of women who will be sworn in Thursday. Muslim women will be serving for the first time, as will Native American women. The state of Texas sent the state's first two Latina members to Congress, and two black congresswomen-elect from New England will also make history by coming to Washington.... The party breakdown in the new House of Representatives will be 235 Democrats and 199 Republicans, with one congressional race in North Carolina still unresolved. In the Senate there will be 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats, a total that includes two independents who caucus with the Democrats. The record number of women elected to Congress were key to Democrats' reclaiming the majority in the House. Though Republicans, on the other hand, lost female representation.... The new class also includes more women with young children.... NPR reported Tuesday that the new Congress opened a new child care facility exclusively for employees of the House of Representatives." ...

... John Bresnahan, et al., of Politico: "On Thursday..., [Nancy] Pelosi will be the first person in more than six decades, since the legendary Texas Democrat Sam Rayburn, to return to the speaker's chair after losing it. She will be surrounded by children as she does so, a replay of an iconic moment from her January 2007 swearing-in ceremony as the first female speaker in history.... Pelosi will also tie Rayburn on another front by becoming the oldest person ever elected speaker and the oldest to hold the post, a testament to both her staying power and the fact that her return engagement to the speakership will be limited.... Pelosi will face a whole new set of challenges during the 116th Congress -- a fractious caucus full of upstart progressives who want to move an ambitious agenda; the unpredictable ... Donald Trump, who has greeted Pelosi's return to power with an ongoing government shutdown; a determined, experienced foe in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who runs his own chamber with a tight grip; and self-imposed term limits on her speakership of four years. All that, however, shouldn't diminish the scale of what Pelosi has done."

Josh Israel of ThinkProgress: "As they usher in the 116th Congress on Thursday, the new House Majority plans to hit the ground running with two packages to actually drain the swamp and take on the for-profit Trump administration. But with the Senate Republicans still controlling the majority there, one of those packages is likely going to run into the massive anti-reform roadblock that is Senator Addison 'Mitch' McConnell (R-KY).... Those changes include a prohibition on members of Congress -- like indicted New York Rep. Chris Collins (R) -- serving on corporate boards, mandatory annual ethics training for all members, an expanded ban on sexual relationships between members and committee staffers, a new ombudsman for whistleblowers, and a formal ban on non-disclosure agreements (which have been used to conceal sexual harassment)." --s

Ian Millhiser of ThinkProgress: "Two years [in], the Trump administration remains cruel, racist, and deeply corrupt. Yet its saving grace -- and that of its Republican allies in Congress -- is that it is so bumblingly incompetent, the GOP's toxic legislative agenda never really got off the ground.... Republicans squandered their best chance to ravage poor people the way they've always wanted.... Let us now pause to consider the unique incompetence of outgoing Speaker Paul Ryan.... Indeed no one, not even Donald Trump, embodies the stew of hucksterism, rigid ideology, dyscalculia, and superficial charm that drives the Republican Party more perfectly than Paul Ryan." --s ...

... The Hollow Man. Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Eyes I dare not meet in dreams, This is the way the job ends, not with a bang but a whimper:

     ... Chart via New York. No link.

** Mark Liebovich in the New York Times Magazine: Former Senate leader Harry "Reid, who is 79, does not have long to live." He has pancreatic cancer.... 'Trump is an interesting person. He is not immoral but is amoral.... No conscience.' There was a hint of grudging respect in Reid's tone, which he seemed to catch and correct. 'I think he is without question the worst president we've ever had,' he said. 'We've had some bad ones, and there's not even a close second to him.' He added: 'He'll lie. He'll cheat. You can't reason with him.'... I asked [Reid] if he could identify at all with Trump's dark worldview. 'I disagree that Trump is a pessimist,' Reid said, as if to allow him that mantle would be paying him an undeserved compliment. 'I think he's a person who is oblivious to the real world.'"

"I Would Look Foolish."

Julie Davis & Michael Tackett of the New York Times: "President Trump and Democratic congressional leaders dug in Wednesday for a lengthy partial shutdown in a newly divided government after a White House meeting -- the first in 22 days -- could not break an impasse over Mr. Trump's demands for billions of dollars for a border wall. During the contentious meeting in the Situation Room, Mr. Trump made his case for a wall on the southwestern border and rejected Democrats' proposals for reopening the government while the two sides ironed out their differences. 'I would look foolish if I did that,' Mr. Trump responded after Senator Chuck Schumer ... posed the question to him directly.... He said that the wall was why he was elected.... At one point, he said [Nancy] Pelosi should back [the wall] because she was 'a good Catholic' and Vatican City is surrounded by a wall...." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: "I would look foolish." What a remarkable admission; first, because he is unaware that every sensible observer already takes him for a fool, and second, because he sees nothing wrong with disrupting the lives of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people so that he may, in his own twisted mind, save face. This is as clear a breach of a president's Constitutional duty "to faithfully execute the office of President" as is each & every criminal offense Robert Mueller's team may find Trump has committed since taking office. ...

... Sarah Ferris & Burgess Everett of Politico: "... Donald Trump and congressional leaders made no tangible progress on ending a 12-day government shutdown at a meeting on Wednesday, and Senate GOP leaders said they would not even take up House Democrats' bills to reopen the government -- underscoring the slim odds of quickly resolving the impasse in the new Congress. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the Senate will not take up the House bills because the president opposed them.... After coming out of the White House, [Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer] accused Trump and Republicans of using the shutdown as a 'hostage' to try to get money for his border wall.... Meanwhile, the stakes are getting higher for federal workers, with roughly 380,000 people told to stay home Wednesday. Another 420,000 people have been told to work without pay, with no guarantee that their next paycheck will go out." ...

... Allan Smith of NBC News: "Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi told NBC's 'Today' show in an interview set to air Thursday that she will not provide ... Donald Trump with the border wall funding he has demanded and shut down the government over.... 'We can go through the back and forth,' Pelosi said in a clip that aired on MSNBC on Wednesday. 'No. How many more times can we say no? Nothing for the wall.' Pelosi added that the shutdown has 'nothing to do with' Democrats, saying Trump is holding the federal government hostage so that he can fulfill his campaign promise to build a border wall -- one she noted he pledged Mexico would fund. 'That is so ridiculous: A. Mexico's not paying for it ... and B. We have better use of funds to protect our border,' Pelosi said. 'The president knows that.'" More on Pelosi's "Today" interview linked under "This Russia Thing, Etc., CTD." ...

... Michael Burke of the Hill: "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Wednesday cautioned President Trump against giving in on his demand for funding for his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall.... 'He's not going to sign a bill that doesn't have money for the wall. I can tell you exactly how this is going to end. The president is going to challenge Democrats to compromise and if they continue to say no, they're going to pay the price with the American people,' Graham said during an appearance on Fox News's 'Hannity.' 'If he gives in now, that's the end of 2019 in terms of him being an effective president,' he continued. 'That's the probably the end of his presidency. Donald Trump has made a promise to the American people. He's going to secure our border.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: You have to hand it to Lackey Lindsey; he's as two-faced & inconsistent as Trump. A couple of days ago, he said the wall was a "metaphor for border security"; now a concrete slab is an existential element of the presidency. Lindsey is as slippery as Trump; now he is conflating "wall" and "border security," whereas on Sunday, he made clear that -- as we all know -- "wall" and "border security" are two distinct things. In addition, Democrats are not proposing to eliminate or undermine border security; they're proposing to re-open the rest of the government while continuing to tangle on "wall." Lindsey knows it's important to confuse & bamboozle Foxbots, and he's happy to oblige. ...

... How Stupid Does Trump Think We Are? Damian Paletta & Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "President Trump made two false claims about his demands for a new border wall just hours before he is set to meet with congressional leaders Wednesday.... In a Twitter post Wednesday morning, Trump wrote that Mexico would be paying for the wall along the U.S. border under the parameters of a trade deal he has tentatively inked with Mexico and Canada. This is not true. That deal has not been approved by Congress, which means the parameters of the pact are not in effect. And even if the trade agreement is approved, it would not in any way create a stream of money designated for the construction of a border wall. The second false point in Trump's Twitter post Wednesday is his statement that 'much of the Wall has already been fully renovated or built.' This is also not true. The U.S.-Mexico border is roughly 2,000 miles long. Trump's demand for $5.6 billion to build new sections of wall would finance 200 miles of wall, and less than 100 miles has already been constructed or renovated, according to Department of Homeland Security Officials." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's the funny part. "... the White House said the meeting was supposed to serve as a way for Democrats to learn more about the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border." Evidently, Trump thinks he going to mansplain the Great Wall of Trump to Chuck & Nancy by telling them he's asking them for a down payment on said Great Wall because Mexico is really paying for it & it's almost all built anyway. It is curious that Trump thinks these Washington veterans just fell off a turnip truck. Then again, what do I know? I don't have my face on the cover a book somebody else wrote titled The Art of the Deal. ...

... The Trumperantrum Is Not about Border Security. Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "Tens of thousands of U.S. immigration officers and agents are showing up for work each day to guard the Mexico border, where President Trump insists on putting a wall. But the government is shut down, so no one is getting paid. The paralysis in bank accounts extends to overburdened U.S. immigration courts. New filings are piling up on dockets already backlogged by nearly 1 million cases, but many of the judges and clerks who process them have been sent home. And when U.S. companies and employers want to check the immigration status of potential hires, they are greeted by a red banner across the top of the government's E-Verify website. Those services are 'currently unavailable due to a lapse in government appropriations,' it says. Twelve days into the standoff over Trump's $5 billion border-wall demand, major components of the U.S. immigration system are offline, out of order or under worsening strain." ...

... Couples Can't Get Marriage Licences in Washington, D.C. -- Thanks, Donald! Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News: "The local court system in DC is funded by Congress, one of a number of city government operations that still interact in some way with the federal government. When congressional leaders failed to reach a funding agreement by midnight on Dec. 21, DC court officials, like those at federal agencies, had to put a shutdown plan into effect. Workers not deemed 'essential' were furloughed, and that included Marriage Bureau employees."

"The Most Popular President in the History of the Republican Party." Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Trump ... inaugurated the new year Wednesday with a Cabinet meeting. It quickly became a 95-minute stream-of-consciousness defense of his presidency and worldview, filled with falsehoods, revisionist history and self-aggrandizement.... Trump added confusion to the [wall] debate by undercutting Vice President Pence, seated nearby, in dismissing the offer he and other administration officials made to Democrats late last month of accepting $2.5 billion for the wall. He described the recent stock sell-off as a 'glitch' and said markets would soar again on the strength of trade deals he plans this year.... He took credit for falling oil prices, arguing they were the result of phone calls he made to the leaders of oil-producing nations.... 'They say I am the most popular president in the history of the Republican Party,' Trump said.... He claimed that if he wanted to, he could have any government job in Europe and be popular there. He cast his unpopularity among European publics as a sign he is doing his job well." ...

... The Reward for Serving in the Trump Administration. Ryan Pickrell of Business Insider: "... Donald Trump said Wednesday that he essentially 'fired' former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, criticizing the outgoing defense chief's service in the Marine Corps and his two years leading the Defense Department. 'What's he done for me? How had he done in Afghanistan? Not too good,' Trump said at a Cabinet meeting.... 'As you know, President Obama fired him, and essentially so did I,' he explained to reporters, contradicting an earlier statement. 'I think I would've been a good general, but who knows,' the president, who has not served in the military and sought five deferments to avoid being sent to Vietnam, further remarked.... While Mattis was initially expected to serve until the end of February, President Trump decided to force him out early, tweeting that Patrick Shanahan, previously the deputy secretary of defense, would take over as acting secretary of defense on Jan. 1, which he did. In a string of tweets on New Year's Eve, Trump trashed 'failed generals' who dared to criticize his policy decisions, a shot at retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal in particular." ...

... Tom Nichols in the Atlantic: "We've gotten used to so much in Donald Trump's two years in office, from the cruelty of his immigration policies to his childlike understanding of international trade, and from his apparent fear of Vladimir Putin to his whipsawing of the financial markets.... Now, however, the president has opened a Pandora's box by escalating his attacks on senior U.S. military leaders. No American president has ever dared risk the American civil-military relationship for less cause or with such childish malice.... The president has taken a dangerous path, excoriating retired military leaders who criticize him and lavishing praise and make-believe pay raises on the active-duty military voters who he believes support him.... He is impugning the character and competence of senior U.S. military leaders purely for political reasons.... When Trump said he knew more than the generals -- a laughable claim from almost any civilian when it comes to military affairs -- he apparently meant it. And that means he has no respect for military advice, from any direction." Mrs. McC: This essay was published before Trump trashed Mattis Wednesday. ...

... Trump Takes Russia's Side against the U.S. Again. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "President Trump said a lot of strange, untrue things after Wednesday's Cabinet meeting. But the most bizarre snippet might have been his 'history' lesson on the Soviet Union. Trump, who has assured us he is the foremost expert on many topics for which he has no formal education or training, gave his own version of why the USSR collapsed. And to be clear, it is his own version....'Russia used to be the Soviet Union. Afghanistan made it Russia, because they went bankrupt fighting in Afghanistan. Russia.... The reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia. They were right to be there. The problem is, it was a tough fight. And literally they went bankrupt; they went into being called Russia again, as opposed to the Soviet Union. You know, a lot of these places you're reading about now are no longer part of Russia, because of Afghanistan.'" ...

     ... Blake demolishes Donald's "history lesson." Russia & the Soviet Union are not the same places. Russia didn't "go bankrupt"; its economy collapsed. (Mrs. McC: President Serial Bankruptcy, of all people, should know the difference.) Russia's war in Afghanistan was hardly the sole cause of the USSR's collapse. "The Soviet Union ventured into Afghanistan as part of its effort to prop up communism abroad, not because terrorists were striking the Soviet homeland.... It's remarkable and unprecedented for a president of the United States to argue that the Soviet Union was right to be in Afghanistan, regardless of the purported reasons. The United States, after all, was on the other side, aiding the mujahideen." ...

... Jonathan Chait: "Americans don't agree about the U.S. response to the [Russian] invasion [of Afghanistan] -- a grain embargo by the Carter administration, and then arming anti-Soviet guerrillas, many of whom had radical Islamist views. But there has been little disagreement that the Soviets did something bad by invading. Until now. Meanwhile, the Russian government is moving an official resolution defending the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. (The approval is scheduled to take place next month.) Russians have previously called the invasion a tragic error, but Vladimir Putin's regime ... is systematically rehabilitating various Soviet crimes. Trump is almost certainly not carrying out some kind of favor for Putin by weirdly defending the invasion of Afghanistan... Still, it raises the question of just where Trump is hearing this stuff. He's not getting pro-Soviet revisionist history from Fox & Friends. He's also probably not reading alternative histories of central Asia. So who planted this idea in Trump's head, anyway?"

I will provide lockstep support for Donald Trump's agenda, regulatory appointments, and oppose all oversight because this might undermine #1 and #2, but I will occasionally Express Concern About Tone. -- Scott Lemieux, in LG&M, translation of Mitt Romney's op-ed, linked yesterday ...

... Eli Okun of Politico: "... Donald Trump responded to a harsh op-ed from Sen.-elect Mitt Romney Wednesday morning, admonishing him to 'Be a TEAM player & WIN!' 'Here we go with Mitt Romney, but so fast! Question will be, is he a Flake? I hope not,' Trump tweeted. 'Would much prefer that Mitt focus on Border Security and so many other things where he can be helpful. I won big, and he didn't. He should be happy for all Republicans.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Given Trump's usual disparagement of nearly everyone who crosses him, this is a pretty mild reaction to Mitt's critique, especially considering that Mitt didn't complain as much about Trump's actions as about his essential character. So I'm thinking Trump made a wise calculation in his self-interest: it has dawned on Trump that those Mittens hold Trump's fate -- Mitt is one who could and possibly would vote to oust Trump after an impeachment trial.

... Trumpery Is Thicker than Blood. Emily Stewart of Vox: Mitt's niece Ronna Romney McDaniel, who is the chair of the Republican National Committee, sided with the boss: In a tweet she wrote, "POTUS is attacked and obstructed by the MSM media and Democrats 24/7. For an incoming Republican freshman senator to attack @realdonaldtrump as their first act feeds into what the Democrats and media want and is disappointing and unproductive." Stewart notes, McDaniel "stopped using her full name publicly after Trump reportedly joked about the matter with her.... In June 2018, McDaniel tweeted that anyone who does not embrace Trump's 'agenda of making America great again will be making a mistake.'" ...

If you want to know which way the wind blows, it doesn't hurt to look at the weather vane. -- Robert Farley, in LG&M ...

... Jack Crosbie of Splinter: "You can see by the headline [on Romney's op-ed], which is way too long, that this is going to be a lecture from America's stern conservative dad on how President Trump is bad and uncouth. Romney prefers the gentler Republican cruelty of past decades -- you know, the kind that doesn't endorse statements like 'grab them by the pussy' but still tries to erode women's rights and expand the gap between rich and poor at every possible opportunity." ...

Romney thing is just this: he's ostentatiously shorting Trump, ie, betting he is impeached/convicted or forced to resign. And reminding party he would do all the usual stuff the donors and activists want without the drama. And figuring that's how he wins nomination in '20. -- Richard Yeselson, in a tweet, via Martin Longman, linked below ...

... Steve M.: "Romney is sticking to a position so indefensible that even most mainstream media pundits have abandoned it: that Trump's presidency isn't a crisis and that it's still possible for him to be a good president and a decent person, at which point Romney will readily embrace him.... But if Romney thinks this puts him in a good position for 2020 in the event of Trump doesn't run again, I think he's mistaken.... GOP voters will never abandon Trump no matter what he does, which means that only a Republican perceived as pro-Trump ... will be able to take the nomination if Trump falls. No one will beat Trump in the 2020 primaries if he runs -- certainly not Romney. And no one who seemed in any way aligned with the evil Democrats and Deep Staters who brought about Trump's downfall will stand a chance if Trump is gone. Romney may be acting in a calculated way, but if so, he's calculating wrong." ...

... Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "... while it is only implied [in Romney's op-ed], the verdict is clear. If we must start by repairing our highest office because the person presently serving in that position is a no-character lying racist and sexist who is destructive to our democratic institutions, then the highest priority must be the removal of Trump from office.... Before Donald Trump came along, Mitt Romney held the land-speed record for mendacity in American politics. In 2012, our own Steve Benen tallied 917 falsehoods from Romney, which was a lowball and partial estimate of the actual number.... Romney is replacing Orrin Hatch in the Senate, and we last saw Sen. Hatch trading away his posterity for a Medal of Freedom. At least Romney isn't saying that Trump is a great president or that he doesn't care if he committed a few felonies during the campaign.... The unmistakable message is that Romney has no interest in carrying water for Trump and he'll vote to remove him from office with enthusiasm. In fact, he's basically committed to that now because the last thing Romney needs is for Trump to get reelected so he can exact revenge on him a second time. However cynically you look at this, it's not what Orrin Hatch would have done."

This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.

Mike Allen of Axios: "In an interview to air on NBC's 'Today,' co-anchor Savannah Guthrie asks Nancy Pelosi...: 'Do you believe the special counsel should honor and observe the Department of Justice guidance that states a sitting president cannot be indicted?'... Pelosi replied, according to an excerpt from NBC: 'No, I mean I don't think -- I do not think that that is conclusive. No, I do not.' With that response, she becomes the highest ranking official to suggest President Trump could be indicted while in office."

Lauren Fox of CNN: "Democrats are making presidential tax returns a focal point in one of their first pieces of legislation, an effort to build the case to the American people that time is up on ... Donald Trump keeping his own tax returns from the public, shutting what could be a window into his personal wealth. According to two sources familiar with the discussions, Democrats will include a provision in their new bill that would require presidential nominees to disclose 10 years of tax returns shortly after they become the nominee. Vice presidents would also be required to disclose a decade of returns. The tax returns would then be posted on the Federal Election Commission's website for public viewing. The 10-year requirement is new marker. At the end of last year, Democrats had disclosed H.R. 1 would require presidential candidates to release just three years of tax returns.... The provision would be included in H.R. 1, a far-reaching bill that makes sweeping ethics changes as well as lays out Democratic priorities on voting rights and health care. The legislation isn't expected to pass the Republican-controlled Senate or be signed by Trump...." More on HR 1 linked below.

How Convenient. Jennifer Yachmin of E&E News: "President Trump ... triggered the partial federal government shutdown that closed national parks and facilities late last month -- but his namesake hotel in the nation's capital will see its own National Park Service site reopen this week. The Old Post Office Tower, which shares facilities with the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, is slated to reopen by Friday thanks to funding from the General Services Administration.... It is not clear whether the Trump Organization attempted to pay to reopen the facility itself. Multiple telephone calls and emails to representatives of Trump Hotels were not returned." --s

Fred Wertheimer & Norman Eisen in the USA Today: "Prosecutors triggered a national firestorm last month when they asserted that President Donald Trump conspired with his ex-fixer, Michael Cohen, to commit campaign finance crimes involving hush money payments to two women. But the discussion has so far overlooked another Trump campaign finance offense -- one that is even easier to prove because it occurred in plain sight. On July 27, 2016, Trump called on Russia to find presidential Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's missing emails.... Federal campaign finance law prohibits any person from soliciting campaign contributions, defined as anything of value to be given to influence an election, from a foreign national, including a foreign government.... The law provides that such a solicitation is illegal regardless of whether the person soliciting the help receives anything in return." --s

Eli Okun: "Incoming House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler blasted the Trump administration Wednesday for the recent deaths of two migrant children in government custody, placing the blame squarely on the White House and its policies.... The zero-tolerance policies [are] ... 'a deliberate creation of the Trump administration, which is trying to make things as miserable as possible. And if kids die, they're apparently willing to have that.'"

Emily Atkin of the New Republic: The Trump administration has removed federal funding from a University of Maryland database that tracked violence by white supremacists & white nationalists, as well as cut funding to other groups that aimed to eradicate violence by these groups.

Sarah Okeson of DC Report: "Archaeologists helped draft the [Antiquities Act in 1906] that presidents use to protect areas like the Grand Canyon, but today's Republicans want to muzzle archaeologists and others to keep them from weighing in on a lawsuit over Trump's yanking protections from Utah sites that date back to the end of the last Ice Age.... Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jean Williams asked a federal judge not to accept legal documents from archaeologists objecting to Trump's largely dismantling two national monuments in Utah. She said the blitz of documents was 'inherently prejudicial' to Trump and the other defendants.... Williams works in the environmental division, led by Jeffrey Bossert Clark, who represented BP in lawsuits over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the nation's largest oil spill." --s

Susan Davis of NPR: "Top Democrats announced late Sunday a series of changes to House rules that could eliminate causes of major instability during the previous eight years of Republican rule in Congress. 'We are proposing historic changes that will modernize Congress, restore regular order and bring integrity back to this institution,' said incoming House Rules Chairman James McGovern, D-Mass., in a statement explaining the changes.... Democrats will revive the 'Gephardt Rule,' introduced in the late 1970s by Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., that automatically raises the debt ceiling -- the nation's borrowing limit -- once the House passes a budget.... Additionally, Democrats are changing the rules regarding motions 'to vacate the chair,' a procedural tool that could be used to force out a sitting House speaker." Smith outlines "other notable House rules changes".

Beyond the Beltway

Kansas. AP: "A county in western Kansas has paid more than $70,000 so far to a legal firm hired to defend an official who moved Dodge City's only polling place to outside the iconic Wild West town ahead of the November election. Ford County paid the Hinkle Law Firm $71,481 in October and November to defend County Clerk Debbie Cox, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.... The American Civil Liberties Union sued Cox in late October after she moved Dodge City's polling place..., but the lawsuit is continuing as the ALCU seeks to ensure Cox opens a second voting location in 2020. Cox hired attorney Bradley Schlozman, who is well-known in the legal community for defending states and towns accused of trying to restrict voting. She said money for his Wichita-based firm comes from the county's general fund." --s

Texas. AP via TPM: "'Black Girl Magic' has met the bench with the swearing-in of 17 African-American female judges in the Houston area. The 17 women all won races in last year's election to be judges in various Harris County courts. Their 'Black Girl Magic' campaign debuted over the summer with a viral photo that featured the 17 women and two other sitting Harris County judges inside a courtroom. The women were sworn in on Tuesday." --s

Virginia. Casey Michels of ThinkProgress: "On Monday, Dick Black announced on Facebook that he would not seek re-election to the Virginia State Senate, where he's served for seven years.... While Black isn't a household name, he has made a name for himself in national security circles for the past few years. He became an outspoken defender of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and Russian propaganda alike, and lately took on a notable role in pushing pro-Trump conspiracy theories about former FBI official Andrew McCabe." --s

Way Beyond

Mauricio Savarese of the AP: "Newly installed President Jair Bolsonaro targeted Brazil's indigenous groups, descendants of slaves and the LGBT community with executive orders in the first hours of his administration, moving quickly after a campaign in which the far-right leader said he would radically overhaul many aspects of life in Latin America's largest nation.... One of the orders issued late Tuesday, hours after Bolsonaro's inauguration, likely will make it all but impossible for new lands to be identified and demarcated for indigenous communities. Areas set aside for 'Quilombolas,' as descendants of former slaves are known, are also affected by the decision. Another order removed the concerns of the LGBT community from consideration by the new human rights ministry." ...

... ** David Wallace-Wells of New York: "... Brazil's newly elected president just might test the proposition that no individual matters all that much to the climate. Often called the 'Trump of the Tropics,' the cartoonish quasi-fascist Jair Bolsonaro is almost certain to be worse on global warming than Trump himself.... Bolsonaro wants to do as he'd like in the Amazon, 60 percent of which sits within Brazilian borders. There, he plans to open the rainforest to agricultural development, essentially putting a match to an entire rainforest of stored carbon by inviting rapid deforestation -- the industrial-scale felling of trees, which, in dying and decomposing, will release into the atmosphere all the CO2 they have stored inside them.... As Emily Atkin put it at The New Republic, 'The livability of the entire planet is at stake.'"

On the Far Side of the Moon. Ken Moritsugu of the AP: "China's burgeoning space program achieved a first on Thursday: a landing on the so-called dark side of the moon. Three nations -- the United States, the former Soviet Union and more recently China -- have sent spacecraft to the near side of the moon, which faces Earth, but this landing is the first-ever on the far side."