Donald Trump, Dreamers, conspiracy theories and a shutdown: One week in Washington
Updated
The lights are on in Washington, at least for the moment, after a Government shutdown that put the dysfunction of American politics on full display.
How much did the President have to do with it? It depends who you ask.
Democrats say a deal was essentially reached hours before the deadline between Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — only to be vetoed by his chief of staff General John Kelly.
Subsequently, Democrats said negotiating with the President was like negotiating with Jello.
Now, the analogy might be a little wobbly but the sentiment seemed to be endorsed on both sides of the aisle:
When the shutdown finally came to an end on Monday, Democrats taunted the President for being "sidelined":
So what was the shutdown really all about?
Besides a few tourist attractions being shut, and skeleton staffing at NASA…
It showed that spending bills have become one of the few available vehicles to advance other legislative proposals.
The Democrats linked immigration to the budget bill, refusing to pass it unless the totally unrelated fate of young Dreamers was addressed.
A quick cheat sheet on Dreamers and DACA:
- DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) was put in place by Barack Obama via executive order in 2012 after Congress failed to come up with a long-term solution for young people who had been brought to the US as minors.
- To be eligible immigrants had to be younger than 31 on June 15, 2012, must have been younger than 16 when they came to the US and must have been here since 2007.
- They would then be allowed a two-year renewable work/study permit and would be protected from deportation.
- President Trump announced last year that the policy would be revoked, giving Congress six months to come up with a replacement plan.
- That deadline is up on March 5, 2018 (although a federal court has since stayed the order so renewals are still taking place. The administration has asked the Supreme Court to consider the case).
In the end the Democrats agreed to re-open the Government as long as immigration reform, and specifically the fate of the Dreamers, is considered before the next spending bill has to be passed on February 8.
Let's see if Republicans keep their word. If not, the lights may well be switched off again.
What will happen with the Dreamers?
Well, the President seems to have taken every conceivable position on DACA in his short time in power. Just a few weeks ago he said he wanted a "bill of love".
In a typically Trump, freewheeling, impromptu press availability with reporters yesterday, he said the following:
Reporter: Do you want citizenship for Dreamers?
Trump: We do, we're going to morph into it, it's going to happen at some point in the future.
Reporter: What does that mean?
Trump: Over a period of 10-12 years, somebody does a great job, they've worked hard, it gives incentive to do a great job. If they've done terrifically, whether they have a little company, or whether they work, whatever they're doing. If they do a great job, I think it's a nice thing to have the incentive of, after a period of years, being able to become a citizen.
Reporter: How many years, Mr President?
Trump: We're looking at 10 or 12.
Reporter: If there's no agreement by March 5, are you going to protect them, are you going to extend the deadline?
Trump: Yeah, I might do that. I might do that.
Meanwhile, around 700,000 so-called "Dreamers" are living in limbo.
Can you imagine what it would be like to face deportation to a country you don't even remember?
Meet Claudia and Dulce, who we met this week.
By the numbers
$1 million — That's how much the RNC raised over the weekend of the shut down, according to AP.
Speaking of numbers, this was an opportunity lost:
Beautiful Day!
In the midst of the shutdown thousands took to the streets for the Women's March, which became a thing the day after last year's inauguration.
It was busy, and noisy!
And, shall we say, colourful.
A chat with Bob Mueller? Love to!
In that same impromptu interview detailed above, Mr Trump said he'd love to be interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller under oath as part of the Russia Investigation. No, really.
Which leads us to a weird conspiracy theory — which has gained and lost traction here over the past 48 hours. Let's call it "The Secret Society".
The claims centre around anti-Trump text messages sent between two FBI agents (who were romantically involved) working on the Russia investigation.
The President's supporters believe they show that there is bias at the highest levels of FBI bureaucracy.
Some Republicans, who have seen the text messages, also now claim that there was evidence FBI agents were plotting against the president from the inside.
One text message reads:
"Are you even going to give out your calendars? Seems kind of depressing. Maybe it should just be the first meeting of the secret society."
Sent from FBI lawyer Lisa Page to senior FBI agent Peter Strzok, who was working on the FBI's probe of Russian meddling in the presidential election.
Another of the text messages reads:
"Omg I am so depressed."
Now, it appears the text messages may have been in jest.
Even the President is weighing in:
In yet another example of the divide between right and left-wing media in America, the coverage was wildly variable.
While others were quick to pour cold water on the claims:
It all culminated in this awkward exchange about the immaculate conception on CNN.
Really:
Which leads us to this week in the Fox News alternate universe…
Note: The election was near 450 days ago.
A sad fact that shouldn't be missed: school shootings so far in 2018.
And a happier one:
Senator Tammy Duckworth will become the first sitting senator to give birth while a member of Congress later this year.
The announcement comes just days after she called the President "Cadet Bone Spurs" on the floor of the Senate:
Ouch.
Now, a cute one:
Props to Senator Ben Sasse who is shown here helping his daughter with her Math(s) homework on Capitol Hill. (My 11-year-old son's mathematics homework is already way beyond me.)
Reads this week:
1. The Folksy Senator from Louisiana by The Huffington Post. Meet the affable Senator John Neely Kennedy, who's made a name for himself on Capitol Hill for his catchphrases and one-liners, including this winner from last week: "Our country was founded by geniuses, but it's being run by idiots."
2. The Detroit Free Press, who published this powerful front page, naming all the women who spoke out against former USA Gymnastics coach Larry Nassar. Credit to local paper the Indy Star who first broke the story of Larry Nassar's conduct a few years back, once again showing the power of local press. If you haven't seen or read the powerful testimony from the women who suffered yet. Do. It's harrowing and so incredibly brave.
3. The Washington Post reports that when the Trumps asked for a Van Gogh piece for their private quarters that the Guggenheim Museum said no and offered a solid gold fully-functioning toilet instead. Yep.
Drum roll.
Tuesday.
State of the Union. 9:00pm. President Trump's first.
First posted
