Tag: #TrumpShutDown

Presidential contradictions: 3 takeaways from Trump‘s Friday fracas

President Donald Trump speaks during a hastily arranged news conference Friday in the White House Rose Garden. He is flanked by (left-right) Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Vice President Mike Pence, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Credit: John T. Bennett CQ Roll Call

Government shutdown could last ‘years’ or end ‘a lot sooner,’ president says

ANALYSIS | President Donald Trump emerged from the Oval Office on Friday afternoon after what congressional Democratic leaders described as a “contentious” meeting, flanked by Republican immigration hard-liners. What followed was more than an hour of presidential threats and backpedaling during an impromptu Rose Garden press conference.

At one point, the president confirmed something Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters just minutes earlier: That during the closed-door Situation Room session he threatened to keep a quarter of the federal government closed for “months or even years” unless he gets $5.6 billion for his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall.

“I did say that,” Trump said when asked to confirm his fellow New Yorker’s contention. But in almost the next breath, he said: “I hope it doesn’t go on, even beyond a few more days.” And near the end of the chilly outdoor question-and-answer session, Trump struck a much more optimistic tone, saying he thinks the shutdown “will be over a lot sooner than” many people think.

View the complete January 4 article by Jon T. Benntt on The Roll Call website here.

These Republican lawmakers have already had it with Trump’s shutdown

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) Credit: Win McNamee, Getty Images.

Eight House Republicans voted on Thursday to reopen parts of the federal government, as two Senate Republicans backed the idea.

As President Donald Trump’s shutdown of much of the federal government is on the cusp of its third week, he claimed on Thursday that he has never had more support. But with every congressional Democrat against his decision to hold the workings of government hostage to his demand for billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars for a border wall that he’d promised would be fully funded by Mexico, and now 10 congressional Republicans standing up to him as well, he may never had had so little.

“I have never had so much support as I have in the last week over my stance for border security, for border control, and for frankly, the wall or the barrier,” Trump announced in an unusual appearance in the White House briefing room on Thursday, before leaving without taking any questions from the press.

Hours earlier, the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives had been sworn in for the 116th Congress — the first time in the nation’s history that Congress had convened with the government shutdown.

View the complete January 4 article by Josh Israel on the ThinkProgress.org website here.

Trump threatens to extend partial government shutdown for years

President Trump on Friday threatened to keep roughly a quarter of the federal government closed for years amid a dispute over border-wall funding, the latest sign the president and congressional Democrats remain far apart on resolving the two-week-long shutdown.

Trump confirmed after a heated, closed-door meeting that he “absolutely” told Democrats the shutdown could last more than a year, which was first revealed by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer(D-N.Y.) following the negotiation session inside the White House Situation Room.

“We told the president we needed the government open,” Schumer told reporters on the West Wing driveway after the meeting. “He resisted. In fact, he said he’d keep the government closed for a very long period of time, months or even years.”

View the complete January 4 article by Jordan Fabian and Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.

Interior Department Wants To Shut Down Public Information Access

Zinke’s Parting Insult Would Let Agencies Ignore ‘Unreasonably Burdensome’ FOIA Requests

Ryan Zinke is out as secretary of the Interior, but in his last days in office he tried to suppress what we can learn about the destruction Trump is doing to our nation’s public lands.

Attorney Daniel Jorjani, who previously worked at the Koch-funded Freedom Partners, drafted a proposed rule that would slash the public’s ability to get public records from the 10 agencies in the Interior Department.

The Freedom of Information Act, a federal law signed by former President Lyndon Johnson in 1966, allows people to ask for previously unreleased documents. The law was passed after thousands of federal employees accused of being communists were fired during the McCarthy era, and the Eisenhower administration wouldn’t release records from the dismissals.

View the complete January 2 article by Sarah Okeson on the DC Reports website here.

WORKERS SPEAK OUT: ‘I Voted For Him, And He’s The One Who’s Doing This’

Hundreds of thousands of workers do not know when they will get their next paycheck because of the Trump Shutdown. Workers blame Trump, and despite his lies, they don’t support his shutdown.

Here are real stories of workers hurt by the Trump Shutdown:

“I hate the shutdown. … it’s starting to take a toll on everybody at work.” – Federal worker

“I voted for him, and he’s the one who’s doing this. I thought he was going to do good things.” – Federal worker

“It feels like I’m a hostage, and it really hurts to see cruel comments about how people are ‘glad’ the government is shut down.” – Federal worker Continue reading “WORKERS SPEAK OUT: ‘I Voted For Him, And He’s The One Who’s Doing This’”

Unpopular Trump pushes unpopular wall as federal employees, services suffer

People are streaming into national parks to find trash cans overflowing and restrooms locked. Volunteers are stepping in to stop conditions from deteriorating. (Luis Velarde , Juca Favela/The Washington Post)

But for Democrats, is the shutdown worth the funding Trump wants?

This is where we are under Donald Trump.

Unpopular, and unpopularly elected, the president has proudly forced the partial government shutdown in pursuit of an unpopular border wall he promised Mexico would fund.

Irresponsible. Reckless. Disgraceful.

View the complete January 4 article by Joe Davidson on The Washington Post website here.

Want to Know More About: The Trump Shutdown and Its Impact

John Dickerson: “The Standoff Between The President And Democratic Leaders Over That Wall Has Shut Down Parts Of Government For 18 Days.” JOHN DICKERSON: “The standoff between the president and democratic leaders over that wall has shut down parts of government for 18 days. Democrats are demanding equal air time to respond to the president’s speech.” [CBS This Morning, CBS, 1/8/19; Video]

Mary Bruce: “The Air Line Pilots Association Says It Is Making The Air System More Dangerous Saying, Quote, The Shutdown Is Adversely Affecting The Safety, Security, And Efficiency Of Our National Airspace System.” [Good Morning America, ABC, 1/8/19; VIDEO]

The Real Impact of the Trump Shutdown

Tom Costello: “One Of The Programs In Jeopardy, Food Stamps. Nearly 39 Million People Use It To Feed Their Families, And It’s Quickly Running Out Of Funding.” Food Stamp Recipient: “I Won’t Be Able To Come In Here And Buy My Groceries.”[Today, NBC, 1/8/19; VIDEO] Continue reading “Want to Know More About: The Trump Shutdown and Its Impact”

Want to Know More About: The Trump-Pence Misstatements on the Fake Border Crisis

Hallie Jackson: “In That Interview, The Vice President Repeated That Claim That Has Been Debunked As Misleading About The Number Of Suspected Terrorists Or Immigrants Coming Across The Southern Border.” [Today, NBC, 1/8/19; VIDEO]

Joe Scarborough: “Willie, From Six To Thousands. Mike Pence, The Vice President, Lying To The Government Again. You Have The Head Of The Department Of The Homeland Security Lying About Thousands, The President Of The United States Lying About Thousands.” JOE SCARBOROUGH: “Willie, from six to thousands. Mike pence, the vice president, lying to the government again. You have the head of the department of the homeland security lying about thousands, the president of the united States lying about thousands, you have Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the president’s spokesperson, lying about it. And they’re all doing this, just like that they lied about the caravan and the gang members flooding across the southern border, all to justify this government shutdown and to justify the president going on tonight, making up an emergency so he can build his wall along the southern border? It’s outrageous.” [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 1/8/19; VIDEO]

Willie Geist: “We’ve Heard From The President, Vice President, Homeland Security, Sarah Sanders All On TV As Terrorists Are Streaming Across The Southern Border And If We Don’t Build A Wall, That Are Going To Come To America And Kill Us. That Is Not Happening.” WILLIE GEIST: “It is, Joe. And the quote yesterday, there’s a humanitarian and national security crisis on our southern border. Let’s be as clear as we possibly can be. There is no national security crisis at the border. Richard Haas, what you have here, the argument distilled down, we’ve heard from the president, vice president, homeland security, Sarah Sanders all on TV as terrorists are streaming across the southern border and if we don’t build a wall, that are going to come to America and kill us. That is not happening. The numbers bear it out, the evidence bears it out and this is all so president trump can deliver on chants he initiate during his rallies ‘build that wall’ during his presidential campaign. It’s theater and a show tonight.” [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 1/8/19; VIDEO]

Want to Know More About: Border “National Emergency”

Paula Reid: “President Trump Will Argue That The Situation Along The Southern Border Is A Humanitarian And Security Crisis That Requires Immediate Action. He’s Demanding $5.7 Billion To Build His Border Wall.” PAULA REID: “In his address, president Trump will argue that the situation along the southern border is a humanitarian and security crisis that requires immediate action. He’s demanding $5.7 billion to build his border wall.” [CBS This Morning, CBS, 1/8/19; Video]

Joe Lockhart: “It Is Absolute Fiction There Is A National Emergency Here. We Have National Emergencies. Climate Change Is A National Emergency, Gun Violence Is A National Emergency. This Is Not, This Is Politics.” JOE LOCKHART: “If there is a humanitarian crisis here, he created it, he can fix it. It is absolute fiction there is a national emergency here. We have national emergencies. Climate change is a national emergency, gun violence is a national emergency. This is not, This is politics. Tonight, one of two things is going to happen. We will find out Donald Trump is even more cynical than we ever knew and that he used yesterday’s briefing with the vice president to build this up so he could get his seven minutes and we’ll just get more lies or we will have a constitutional crisis, where he for no reason at all, declares a national emergency and starts violating U.S. Law.” [New Day, CNN, 1/8/19; Video]

Peter Alexander: “President Trump In A Speech To The Nation Will Cast The Situation At The Southern Border As A Crisis. His Critics Say The Real Crisis Is An Economic, Political And Human One. Hundreds Of Thousands Of Federal Employees Out Of Work As The Government Shutdown Stretches On.” [Today, NBC, 1/8/19; VIDEO] Continue reading “Want to Know More About: Border “National Emergency””

House Democrats pass government funding bills, Pelosi jokes she’d give Trump $1 for a wall

Speaker Pelosi, D-CA., pictured greeting Senate Minority Leader Schumer, D-NY, during opening day proceedings of the 116th Congress Jan. 3, said Democrats will not agree to a border wall but joked she’d give President Donald Trump $1 for it. Credit: Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call

More seriously, Pelosi reiterates Democrats will not agree to wall as Republicans predict long shutdown

The new House Democratic majority passed two government funding bills Thursday to open shuttered federal agencies that President Donald Trump has said he will not sign, as Republicans predicted the partial government shutdown will be a long one.

Before the votes Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated that Democrats will not agree to a border wall but joked that she’d give Trump $1 for it.

“A dollar?” the California Democrat said when asked if there was any situation in which she’d even accept $1 for the wall. “A dollar. One dollar, yeah, one dollar.”

View the complete January 3 article by Lindsey McPherson on The Roll Call website here.