COMPROMISE APPEARS OFF THE TABLE: Various congressional Republicans and Democrats have suggested ways to reach a compromise to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the month. But the main players, President Trump, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader/Likely incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., appear dug-in and un-budging in their respective positions. Meanwhile, Congress has left town for the holiday break, making a shutdown over border funding increasingly likely.

As former Pentagon speechwriter Marc Thiessen noted this week, the Democrats are in the driver’s seat but are not using their leverage to get a deal. “There is a name for this in negotiating strategy,” he writes in an op-ed, “It’s called ‘insanity.’”