Category: US Senate
Duckworth slams Trump: I won’t be lectured on military needs by a ‘five-deferment draft dodger’
The following article by Brandon Carter was posted on the Hill website January 20, 2018:
Iraq war veteran Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Il.) said she will not be lectured by President Trump, calling him a “five-deferment draft dodger” on Jan. 20.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) tore into President Trump on the Senate floor Saturday, calling him a “five-deferment draft dodger” and slamming him for his comments toward North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“Does he even know that there are service members who are in harm’s way right now, watching him, looking for their commander in chief to show leadership, rather than [trying] to deflect blame?” Duckworth said. “Or that his own Pentagon says that the short-term funding plans he seems intent on pushing is actually harmful to not just the military, but to our national security?” Continue reading “Duckworth slams Trump: I won’t be lectured on military needs by a ‘five-deferment draft dodger’”
Schumer offered Trump something Democrats hate for something Republicans broadly like
The following article by Philip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website January 20, 2018:
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) faulted President Trump and Senate Republicans for the government shutdown. (U.S. Senate)
When the New York Times first reported it, it seemed unlikely. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) offered President Trump funding for his wall in exchange for protecting immigrants who entered the country illegally as children? The most powerful Democrat in the Senate was willing to support one of his party’s most-hated proposals, just like that? The Times wrote simply that Schumer “discussed the possibility of fully funding the president’s wall on the southern border with Mexico” — which leaves some wiggle room.
On the floor of the Senate on Saturday, though, Schumer explained that it was almost exactly that: A deal on those covered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that would also potentially fund the wall. Continue reading “Schumer offered Trump something Democrats hate for something Republicans broadly like”
Shutdown: A familiar partisan ritual takes on new meaning in the Trump era
The following article by Karen Tumulty and Michael Scherer was posted on the Washington Post website January 20, 2018:
The Debrief: An occasional series offering a reporter’s insights
Lawmakers from both parties and White House officials on Jan. 21 laid out their positions in the negotiations to reopen the government. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Though federal shutdowns have become a depressingly familiar ritual of American politics, the current one was born of a newer, more toxic dynamic — one in which the old partisan arguments about the size and role of government have been supplanted by a tribal battle over what it means to be an American.
The tactics are the same, and in some ways the culmination of a no-compromise, winner-take-all approach that has been taking root since at least as far back as the rise of the tea party movement. A deeply polarized political climate demands both sides play to their most ideological and rigid partisans. Continue reading “Shutdown: A familiar partisan ritual takes on new meaning in the Trump era”
Trump: Democrats ‘could have easily made a deal’ to avert shutdown
The following article by Alicia Cohn was posted on the Hill website January 20,2018:
On the morning after a government shutdown, President Trump cast blame on Democrats for deciding to “play shutdown politics” when they “could have easily made a deal.”
He also turned the current shutdown into a campaign slogan for the 2018 midterm elections.
“Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border,” Trump tweeted on Saturday morning. “They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess!” Continue reading “Trump: Democrats ‘could have easily made a deal’ to avert shutdown”
Imposing Medicaid Work Requirements Would Be Bad for Children’s Health Too
The following article by Leila Schochet was posted on the Center for American Progress website January 19, 2018:
Last week, the Trump administration introduced new guidance that would allow states to take away people’s health care if they are unable to find work—all without creating a single job. Imposing work requirements could put at least 6.3 million Americans at risk of losing their health care and would impede—not promote—participation in the workforce.
This new guidance has significant implications for children, not because they would be required to work for their health care, but because a child’s health insurance coverage—and well-being—are closely tied with their parents’ coverage. Imposing work requirements for parents could introduce instability to children’s coverage when they need continuous care and healthy caregivers the most. Furthermore, increasing financial stress in the homes of American families who are struggling to make ends meet would undermine healthy child development. Continue reading “Imposing Medicaid Work Requirements Would Be Bad for Children’s Health Too”
Looming shutdown raises fundamental question: Can GOP govern?
The following article by Damian Paletta and Erica Werner was posted on the Washington Post website January 18, 2018:
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said that rebuilding the military is his “highest priority,” and characterized the spending disagreements as “melodrama.” (Reuters)
The federal government late Thursday faced increasing odds of a partial shutdown, the culmination of a long period of budget warfare that has now imperiled what most lawmakers agree is the most basic task of governance.
The immediate challenge Thursday was a refusal by Senate Democrats to join with Republicans in passing legislation that would keep the government open for 30 more days while legislators continued to negotiate a longer-term solution. Continue reading “Looming shutdown raises fundamental question: Can GOP govern?”
The Blame Game Over the Shutdown Showdown
The following article by Lindsey McPherson was posted on the Roll Call website January 18, 2018:
With less than 36 hours to avoid a shutdown of nonessential government services and no solution in sight, congressional leaders spent Thursday offering their spin on who will be to blame if a deal cannot be struck.
Notably missing amid the rhetoric — as Republicans pointed to Democrats, while the minority said the majority is at fault — were predictions leaders had made in recent weeks that there would be no government shutdown.
President Donald Trump entered the Pentagon on Thursday for a national security meeting and predicted a government shutdown “could very well be.” Continue reading “The Blame Game Over the Shutdown Showdown”
White House Flips, Flops, Then Flips on Stopgap Spending
The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website January 18,2018:
Trump’s tweet sends Hill into spin
President Donald Trump on Thursday undermined efforts by House Republican leaders and his own staff to avoid a government shutdown, criticizing a decision to include an extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program in a GOP-crafted stopgap spending bill.
Hours later the White House announced the president supported the House GOP-crafted stopgap spending measure that includes a six-year CHIP extension — despite a confusing morning tweet that raised questions to the contrary.
The president, after first contradicting his own chief of staff via Twitter on Thursday morning, fired off another post expressing his view that a CHIP extension should not be part of a four-week stopgap measure on which the House is slated to vote later in the day. Continue reading “White House Flips, Flops, Then Flips on Stopgap Spending”
Republicans’ no-win choice: Dreamers or defense
The following article by Rachael Bade and Connor O’Brien was posted on the Politico website January 17, 2018:
The government shutdown threat is forcing the party to choose between maintaining a hard line on immigration or spending more on the military.
President Donald Trump and Republican leaders are being forced to choose between two prized conservative priorities as they try to head off a government shutdown: bolstering the military or taking a hard line against immigration.
Democrats’ refusal to strike a long-term budget accord without a deal to shield 700,000 young undocumented immigrants from deportation means Republican can’t have both. They can strike a deal to protect Dreamers, which would upset the base but secure the extra defense spending they’ve pined for. Or they can continue to hold the line against the Obama-era immigration program known as DACA, keep struggling to pass patchwork spending bills, and let the Pentagon limp along with no infusion of money. Continue reading “Republicans’ no-win choice: Dreamers or defense”