A West Wing source says the White House is “cautiously optimistic” that a government shutdown can be avoided by the Friday spending deadline. Questions remain: Can the House pass its continuing resolution (which leadership spent Wednesday whipping on) to fund the government for another month? Defense budget hawks and the most conservative members have remained difficult gets, but as my colleague Haley Byrd reports, GOP leaders are hoping to buy off some Democrats with a six-year extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
But even if the CR passes the House, will Senate Democrats agree to a budget proposal that does not include protection for immigrant beneficiaries of the sunsetting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program? And it’s not just Democrats. Republican Lindsey Graham expressed his opposition to a CR that does not adequately provide for defense funds and does not address the DACA issue. Graham seems to be holding out hope for a bipartisan compromise on DACA, which appears to have no purchase at the White House. (Trump, in an interview with Reuters, called the idea “horrible.”)
It’s looking increasingly unlikely the White House can play much more than a bystander role in this latest up-against-the-clock showdown. Chief of staff John Kelly’s visits to Capitol Hill with lawmakers of both parties seem to have done little to move the ball forward. He told Fox News’ Bret Baier Wednesday evening that “it would seem that they have the votes.”
But if they don’t, that’s a problem for President Trump. A shutdown, even one held up by Democrats over a relatively low-priority issue like DACA, isn’t likely to play in the majority party’s favor. After all, Republicans control both houses of Congress and the executive branch (even if that is complicated by small GOP margins). A government shutdown is no way to start off an election year that’s already looking abysmal for Republicans. So what will the White House do about ensuring it doesn’t happen? Can they do anything?
One More Thing—John Kelly’s appearance on Capitol Hill and subsequent live interview with Bret Baier seems to have produced one interesting revelation: that President Trump’s views on immigration have evolved. Here’s the Associated Press:
Photo of the Day
President Donald Trump kisses former Sen. Bob Dole in the Capitol rotunda during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony to honor Dole as a ‘soldier, legislator, and statesman,’ on January 17, 2018. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Self-Recommending—Read my colleague Andrew Ferguson, writing in Commentary, on Michael Wolffe’s Fire and Fury. Here’s a taste:
The successful passage of tax reform did a lot to soothe the tensions that simmered for much of last year between the president and Senate Republicans. But there remain a few Trump antagonists in Mitch McConnell’s caucus, as outgoing senator Jeff Flake of Arizona reminded us Wednesday.
In an impassioned speech on the Senate floor, Flake accused Trump of waging an “unrelenting daily assault” on the news media and damaging the public’s trust in our national institutions through his own continual disregard for the truth.
“An American president who cannot take criticism, who must constantly deflect and distort and distract, who must find someone else to blame, is charting a very dangerous path. And a Congress that fails to act as a check on the president adds to the danger,” Flake said.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders hit back at Flake Wednesday afternoon: “He’s not criticizing the president because he’s against oppression. He’s criticizing the president because he has terrible poll numbers, and he is I think looking for attention.”
What was somewhat surprising was Trump’s own silence on the subject. When Republicans like Flake have needled him in the past, Trump hasn’t hesitated to punch back hard and fast. Last October, Trump tweeted often about Flake, calling him “weak and ineffective” and “a non-factor in the Senate.”
A Story to Watch—The celebrity gossip magazine InTouch is publishing an interview with porn star Stormy Daniels conducted back in 2011. Daniels, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford, was reportedly paid $130,000 just days before the 2016 election as part of an agreement that she would not discuss publicly an “alleged sexual encounter” with Trump.
Must-Read of the Day—My friend and former colleague Vic Matus profiles John Gizzi, the longtime White House correspondent for Human Events and now Newsmax. Gizzi has an encyclopedic knowledge of politics and an interesting life story. While covering a White House press briefing last year, he became the subject of a viral GIF thanks to his strategically placed glasses. Read Matus’s profile at the Washington Free Beacon here.
As thousands of pro-life demonstrators take to the National Mall for the March for Life this Friday, President Trump will address the demonstrators—via a satellite livestream from the Rose Garden, Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Wednesday.
“We’re excited to announce that the president will become the first sitting president to address the March for Life from the White House live via satellite,” Sanders told reporters. “The president is committed to protecting the life of the unborn, and he is excited to be part of this historic event.”
Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush also addressed the March remotely while in office, although their appearances, in the pre-livestreaming era, were conducted via telephone. Last year, only a few weeks into the Trump presidency, Mike Pence became the first sitting vice president to address the march, telling supporters that “life is winning again in America.”
Song of the Day— “Cliffs of Dover” by Eric Johnson
