Will President Trump’s interest in new legislation to toughen federal background checks on gun purchasers last? As White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Monday morning, Trump is “supportive of efforts to improve the federal background check system” and has spoken with Senate majority whip John Cornyn about his bill to do just that.
My colleague Haley Byrd has more details on the bill, which Cornyn introduced with Democratic senator Chris Murphy last year. A version of the legislation passed the House, but the Cornyn bill is stalled in the Senate. The president’s quasi-endorsement could put it over the line—if he commits to it. And what about any other gun-control efforts? Not the most restrictionist measures in the fever dreams of progressives, but moderate steps to limit the access to the deadliest firearms to dangerous people.
If there’s any chance the National Rifle Association-endorsed Trump will embrace more actions like that, it will necessarily come after high-profile conservatives take the first step: think of Arkansas senator Tom Cotton or even the NRA itself. The president is nothing if not attuned to the base of his party. For an issue like guns, for which he’s held more liberal positions in the recent past (and not particularly strongly), Trump might follow his crowd.
Remember When?—Back in October, following the Las Vegas mass shooting, both Republicans in Congress and the White House were discussing the possibility of a ban on bump stocks, the rifle accessory that can mimic automatic firing with a semi-automatic. Here’s what Sarah Huckabee Sanders said about bump stocks on October 5: “We’re certainly open to that moving forward, but we want to be part of that conversation as it takes place in the coming days and weeks.”
Anonymous Quote of the Day— “For everyone, it was a distraction or a reprieve . . . A lot of people here felt like it was a reprieve from seven or eight days of just getting pummeled.” —a White House official, to the Washington Post, on last week’s shooting at a Florida high school that left 17 dead.
Trump Tweet of the Day
.@MittRomney has announced he is running for the Senate from the wonderful State of Utah. He will make a great Senator and worthy successor to @OrrinHatch, and has my full support and endorsement!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2018
Tax Reform Watch—From a new SurveyMonkey poll, the majority of Americans now support the Republican-passed tax plan, which President Trump signed into law at the end of last year. In the poll, 51 percent approve of it, up from 37 percent approval when the law passed in December. Read more at the New York Times.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pushed back on Sunday against critics who say he is “dismantling” the State Department, arguing that ambassadorships that have gone unfilled so far under Trump have not hindered American interests around the globe.
“There’s been no dismantling at all of the State Department,” Tillerson said in an interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes. “We’ve got terrific people, both foreign service officers, civil servants, that have stepped into those roles around the world. It is an interim basis. So clearly, it is not with the same kind of support that I wish everyone had. But our foreign policy objectives continue to be met.” Tillerson added that the 41 unfilled ambassadorships are “not a question of people neglecting the importance of it.”
“It’s just the nature of the process itself,” he said. (An administration official recently told me the hold-up on nominations has to do with a slow vetting process of potential picks at the Office of Government Ethics.)
Tillerson also discussed the prospect of negotiations this year with the government of North Korea. “We’re not using a carrot to convince them to talk. We’re using large sticks. And this is what they need to understand,” Tillerson said, adding that diplomatic efforts would continue for as long as possible.
“I’m gonna use all the time available to me. Our diplomatic efforts will continue until that first bomb drops,” Tillerson said. “My job is never to have a reason for the first bomb to drop. And we don’t know precisely how much time is left on the clock.”
Mueller Watch—CNN reports the special counsel’s investigation has expanded into White House aide and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner’s business dealings:
Things That Make You Go Hmmmm . . . —From the Wall Street Journal: “Iranian Airline, Under Sanctions, Bought U.S. Jet Parts Through Front Firms”
A driver in President Trump’s motorcade in Florida was detained by the Secret Service and removed from duty Monday morning after a routine search turned up a gun in his bag.
The driver, who had been contracted to drive one of the vans carrying the press during Trump’s weekend at Mar-a-Lago, said he had forgotten to remove the gun, which he owned legally. A White House staffer took over driving the van for the day.
“The Secret Service can confirm that an individual serving as a staff-contracted driver was briefly detained by U.S. Secret Service personnel and other law enforcement officials today. The individual was found to be in lawful possession of a prohibited item (firearm) outside the secure area at a Secret Service security screening checkpoint.” the agency said in a statement. “At no time was any Secret Service protectee in danger or impacted. All Secret Service security measures worked.”
According to the Washington Post, motorcade drivers are often volunteer supporters of the president and sometimes contracted with little notice by local Republican officials.
Song of the Day—“Stay With Me” by the Faces
