Former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro introduced himself to Iowa Democrats on Monday night as a champion for universal health care and affordable housing as he indicated he was close to launching a run for the presidency.

 

Castro spoke with party activists at a crowded house party in North Liberty after forming an exploratory committee last month. Castro said that he would announce his presidential campaign on Saturday in San Antonio and that he looked forward to meeting with Iowa voters before the first-in-the-nation caucuses next year.

 

Castro said that he would lay out his vision for making the United States “the smartest, the healthiest, the fairest and the most prosperous nation in the world.” He said that his plans will include expanding Medicare to allow access for all and addressing what he called a housing affordability crisis in which rising rents are squeezing the poor and middle class.

Castro, who served as the nation’s housing secretary during President Barack Obama’s second term, also promised that he will not accept money from political action committees tied to corporations and unions.

“What you’re going to hear from me is that I’m not taking that PAC money, that I support universal health care, and that I’ve shown in my time in public service an ability to stand with the people instead of the special interests, and I’ve taken action to do that,” said Castro, 44.

 

Castro shook hands, spoke and fielded questions for an hour as guests sipped wine from plastic cups. He received a warm welcome from the activists, who said they were eager for someone who could defeat President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. North Liberty is a fast-growing bedroom community that’s located near Iowa City in Johnson County, which has long been the state’s liberal stronghold.

 

Castro’s visit was the latest activity in Iowa as the field of candidates seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination begins to take shape. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts visited the state over the weekend after forming her own exploratory committee, and several more candidates are expected to join the race soon.

 

Castro acknowledged that some Democrats will view his and other candidates’ decisions to not accept PAC money as tantamount to “bringing a knife to a gun fight.” But he said that the Democratic nominee will have no problem raising money from individuals who want change and that the decision sends an important message.

 

“I think it says something, that if a candidate doesn’t take that money, they’re going to work for you,” he said. “If I’m elected, that’s what I’m going to do.”
…

A Congressional delegation of Democrats touring a Border Patrol facility in New Mexico on Monday warned President Donald Trump against circumventing Congress and diverting already appropriated money towards building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

“He can expect a strong and swift challenge from all of us and other members of Congress, and from the American people,” said U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro, when asked about Trump’s planned address to the nation and his visit to the border on Thursday.

Castro, a Democrat from San Antonio, is leading a Congressional delegation visiting the Border Patrol facility in Alamogordo, New Mexico to investigate the death of 8-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonzo, the second child to die in December after being apprehended crossing the border illegally.

Democrats, who now control the U.S. House of Representatives, have rejected the Republican president’s demand for $5.7 billion to help build a wall. Without a deal on that sticking point, talks to fund the government — now in the 17th day of a shutdown — have stalled.

Trump has vowed not to back off his 2016 campaign promise to build a wall that he believes will stem illegal immigration and drug trafficking. He promised during the campaign that Mexico would pay for the wall. Mexico has refused to do so.

Democrats in Congress say a wall would be expensive, inefficient and immoral.

In New Mexico, Border Patrol agents walked the Congressional delegation through the holding areas of the Alamogordo station, which Representative Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York, said were “miraculously” empty.

Castro said the Border Patrol did not provide a report about Gomez’s death nor did they tour the hospital where he was treated for a cold and then released with a prescription for antibiotics and ibuprofen. The boy died shortly after his release.

“We know that CBP is woefully under equipped in terms of its standards of medical care, but we also need to find out whether the doctors in the hospital – how responsible they were in terms of that case,” Castro said.

The Border Patrol itself has said their facilities are not properly equipped to hold families, Castro said. “I think all of us who look at what they have here believe that that is true.”

U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar, a Democrat from El Paso, said the area where Gomez and his father turned themselves over to Border Patrol is on American soil and already fenced.

“The wall only pushes people out to more dangerous, treacherous crossings, creating even more death,” she said.

Illegal crossings at the southern border have dropped dramatically since the late 1970s, but in recent years more Central American families and unaccompanied children are migrating to the United States. Many are released after turning themselves into border agents and requesting asylum, a legal process that can take years to resolve in U.S. immigration courts.
…

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing hard to portray the southern border with Mexico as an imminent “humanitarian and national security crisis” to win support for border wall funding in a fight with lawmakers that has brought the country to an 18-day partial government shutdown.

Trump is set to make that case to the nation in a televised address Tuesday, before traveling to the border on Thursday.

Ahead of the speech, Vice President Mike Pence briefed reporters Monday, stressing that there is a “bona fide crisis” at the border, and blaming Democrats for “refusing to negotiate” to reopen the government.

Pence was joined by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who said that status quo funding and laws are “not able to address the crisis that we’re seeing at the border.”

Democrats and several immigration advocates say the administration’s representation of the issue is inaccurate, and accuse it of manufacturing a crisis for the political purpose of building the border wall, which Trump campaigned for as a presidential candidate in 2016.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a statement late Monday calling for television networks to give Democrats a chance to respond to Trump’s speech, saying that his history suggests the address “will be full of malice and misinformation.”

They also said the president needs to accept that his wall plan does not have sufficient support in Congress.

“Democrats and an increasing number of Republicans in Congress have repeatedly urged the President and Leader McConnell to end the Trump Shutdown and re-open the government while Congress debates the President’s expensive and ineffective wall,” Pelosi and Schumer said.

Within the past two weeks, Democratic leadership visited the White House twice to negotiate a deal with the president, and failed. They said that weekend negotiations on border security also failed to show progress.

National emergency?

The White House is looking into the legality of declaring a national emergency at the border to begin wall construction without congressional approval. In his briefing, Pence said Trump continues to weigh the idea but has yet to make a decision.

There is no end in sight for the shutdown that has halted a quarter of U.S. government operations since Dec. 22 and forced some 800,000 federal employees to be furloughed or work without pay.

Asked at what point workers’ pain outweighs the president’s desire for a border barrier, Pence said the administration understands the burden faced by government workers but hopes “we don’t find out.” 

Responding to Democrats’ request, the Office of Management and Budget sent a revised estimate for the proposals for wall funding to the U.S. Senate’s Appropriations Committee. 

Along with $5.6 billion for the wall, the administration has called for another $800 million for “urgent humanitarian needs” to take care of migrants at the border.

Tax refunds will be paid

Russell Vought, OMB’s acting director, said tax refunds for Americans will be processed and will not be considered “non-accepted activities” during the shutdown. 

“We are making this as painless as possible, consistent with the law,” he said.

Democrats plan to start passing legislation aimed at funding individual agencies that have been shuttered, in particular the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service.

Pelosi called it “an action necessary to make sure working families received their tax refunds on schedule.”

Trump has said he opposes a piecemeal approach that does not resolve his demand for a wall. 

Concrete or steel?

Opposition Democrats have refused Trump’s demand for wall funding, but offered $1.3 billion in new spending for border security.

Semantics may provide negotiating room over the impasse, as Democrats appear more amenable to approving money for “fencing” rather than a “wall” and Trump is now saying he would agree to a steel barrier instead of a concrete wall. On Dec. 21 he tweeted a photograph of a “steel slat barrier” he called “totally effective while at the same time beautiful!” 

“If in fact a compromise emerges, it will be over a change in some of the rhetoric,” said Steven Billet, legislative affairs program director at the George Washington University. He added that once “we start talking about border security as an alternative, we may be able to find a way to provide some funding that is satisfactory to the president and House Democrats.”

Speaking to reporters Friday, Trump said, “I think we are probably talking about steel, because I really feel the other side feels better about it, and I can understand what they are saying.”
…

U.S. President Donald Trump says he is addressing the nation Tuesday about the “humanitarian and national security crisis” on the country’s U.S.-Mexican border before traveling there Thursday for a firsthand look at efforts to thwart illegal immigration.

Trump announced the prime-time nationally televised address Monday shortly after news secretary Sarah Sanders said the U.S. leader would “meet with those on the frontlines” of controlling access across the 3,200-kilometer border with Mexico. She said more details of the trip would be announced soon.

Trump’s visit to the border would come in the midst of what is now a 17-day partial government shutdown centering on a dispute over his demand for more than $5 billion in funding to build a barrier to block migrants, most of them from Central American countries, from crossing into the United States.

Opposition Democrats have blocked funding for the wall, but offered $1.3 billion in new spending for border security.

There was no end in sight Monday for the shutdown that has halted about a quarter of U.S. government operations since December 22nd.

Trump, however, now is saying he would agree to a steel barrier instead of a concrete wall he has long vowed to build.

Trump said again Monday that he could declare a national emergency to build the wall without approval from lawmakers, but added on Twitter, “Let’s get our deal done in Congress!

Trump’s tweet referenced Democratic Congressman Adam Smith, the new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, citing him as saying there is a provision in the law that allows the president to declare an emergency. Later on CNN, however, Smith said that declaring an emergency would be “horrible policy” and a “terrible idea,” and that the president would be challenged in court if he sought to build the wall without congressional authorization.

​The Trump administration called for approval of $5.7 billion for the wall, along with another $800 million for “urgent humanitarian needs” to take care of migrants arriving at the border trying to enter the United States.

But Democrats opposed to Trump’s demand for the wall said there was no progress in talks over the weekend over how to resolve the border security issue and reopen the government.

Democrats in the House of Representatives plan to starting passing legislation aimed at funding individual agencies that have been shuttered, but the president says he is opposed to a piecemeal approach that does not resolve his demand for a wall. Democrats have offered $1.3 billion in new border security funding, but nothing for a wall.

As a new work week began in the United States, about 380,000 government workers remained furloughed, while another 420,000 were deemed essential and required to work with no idea when they will receive their next paycheck. In past U.S. government shutdowns, the workers were paid retroactively once the funding impasses were resolved and Washington officials expect the same thing will occur again this time.

Trump said Sunday he can “relate” to the workers missing paychecks starting this week, but said he expects the 800,000 workers “that are on the receiving end will make adjustments. They always do. People understand what’s going on.”

He said, “Many of those people that won’t be receiving a paycheck, many of those people agree 100 percent with what I’m doing,” although there has been no survey of government workers’ views on Trump’s wall proposal. Some border security officials said they agree with his demand for a wall.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a priority would be to reopen the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service, “an action necessary to make sure working families received their tax refunds on schedule.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected a previous House package that would have funded most of the agencies through the end of September and the Department of Homeland Security for a month to allow for further border security negotiations. McConnell called the plan a “non-starter,” saying it was a waste of time for the Senate to vote on any shutdown-related legislation that Trump opposes.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called on McConnell to bring the new set of bills reopening individual agencies to a Senate vote once they pass the House.

“They are essentially the same funding bills that the Republican Senate wrote and approved by a 92-6 margin during the last Congress,” Hoyer said in a statement Sunday.

Trump contends the wall is needed to stop migrants from illegally crossing into the U.S. from Mexico, as well as preventing drug trafficking and terrorism.

Democrats say the wall is immoral and would be an ineffective and expensive effort.

Trump said Sunday that if Democrats are willing to make a deal, one could be reached “in 20 minutes if they want to.”

Otherwise, Trump said, the shutdown is “going to go on for a long time.”
…

The partial U.S. government shutdown entered its 17th day Monday with no end in sight.

President Donald Trump is still demanding more than $5 billion to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to thwart illegal immigration before reopening the quarter of the government that has been closed since December 22nd. Trump, however, now is saying he would agree to a steel barrier instead of a concrete wall he has long vowed to build.

Trump said again Monday that he could declare a national emergency to build the wall without approval from lawmakers, but added on Twitter, “Let’s get our deal done in Congress!”

Trump’s tweet referenced Democratic Congressman Adam Smith, the new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Trump cited him as saying there is a provision in the law that allows the president to declare an emergency. Later on CNN, Smith said that declaring an emergency would be “horrible policy” and a “terrible idea.” Smith said the president would be challenged in court.

​The Trump administration called for approval of $5.7 billion for the wall, along with another $800 million for “urgent humanitarian needs” to take care of migrants arriving at the border trying to enter the United States.

But Democrats opposed to Trump’s demand for the wall said there was no progress in talks over the weekend over how to resolve the border security issue and reopen the government.

Democrats in the House of Representatives plan to starting passing legislation aimed at funding individual agencies that have been shuttered, but the president says he is opposed to a piecemeal approach that does not resolve his demand for a wall. Democrats have offered $1.3 billion in new border security funding, but nothing for a wall.

As a new work week began in the United States, about 380,000 government workers remained furloughed, while another 420,000 were deemed essential and required to work with no idea when they will receive their next paycheck. In past U.S. government shutdowns, the workers were paid retroactively once the funding impasses were resolved and Washington officials expect the same thing will occur again this time.

Trump said Sunday he can “relate” to the workers missing paychecks starting this week, but said he expects the 800,000 workers “that are on the receiving end will make adjustments. They always do. People understand what’s going on.”

He said, “Many of those people that won’t be receiving a paycheck, many of those people agree 100 percent with what I’m doing,” although there has been no survey of government workers’ views on Trump’s wall proposal. Some border security officials said they agree with his demand for a wall.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a priority would be to reopen the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service, “an action necessary to make sure working families received their tax refunds on schedule.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected a previous House package that would have funded most of the agencies through the end of September and the Department of Homeland Security for a month to allow for further border security negotiations. McConnell called the plan a “non-starter,” saying it was a waste of time for the Senate to vote on any shutdown-related legislation that Trump opposes.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called on McConnell to bring the new set of bills reopening individual agencies to a Senate vote once they pass the House.

“They are essentially the same funding bills that the Republican Senate wrote and approved by a 92-6 margin during the last Congress,” Hoyer said in a statement Sunday.

Trump contends the wall is needed to stop migrants, mostly from Central American countries, from illegally crossing into the U.S. from Mexico, as well as preventing drug trafficking and terrorism.

Democrats say the wall is immoral and would be an ineffective and expensive effort.

Trump said Sunday that if Democrats are willing to make a deal, one could be reached “in 20 minutes if they want to.”

Otherwise, Trump said, the shutdown is “going to go on for a long time.”

 
…

The U.S government is partially closed for a third week with no end in sight as President Donald Trump resolutely demands funding for wall construction along the U.S.-Mexico border and Democratic lawmakers continue to rule it out. VOA’s Michael Bowman has this report.
…

U.S. President Donald Trump showed no signs Sunday of backing down on his demand for taxpayer funding for a wall along the southern border with Mexico, saying there is “not going to be any bend” on his part.

“We have to build a wall, a barrier. It can be steel,” Trump told reporters at the White House before heading to his Maryland retreat at Camp David for discussions with key administration officials about border security and policies they plan to pursue this year.

In the meantime, Trump is engaged in a dispute with opposition Democratic lawmakers over his demand for more than $5 billion in funding for the barrier, a stalemate that has shut down about a quarter of U.S. government operations for 16 days, already one of the longest government closures in U.S. history.

“This shutdown could end tomorrow, or it could go on a long time,” Trump said, noting that Democrats refusing his demand for wall funding have voted for barriers at the U.S.-Mexican border in the past. “Democrats agree, you need border security.”

Trump said he does not expect anything to come out of a second day of negotiations Sunday between top White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, and key congressional aides on how to bridge differences over border security and Trump’s demand for wall funding. But he said progress could be made in talks over the next few days.

The U.S. leader said, “If we don’t have border security, we’ll be crime ridden,” with people crossing into the U.S. illegally “killing our citizens.” He said supporters, who often cheered his call for a wall during his successful 2016 run for the White House, are telling him, “Make sure you win this battle.”

He said, “People that didn’t vote for Donald Trump also want border security.”

 Democrats have offered Trump $1.3 billion in new funding for border security, but not for a wall, which they say is an immoral, ineffective way of controlling border access to thwart illegal immigration. They have called for heightened use of technology to catch immigrants trying to cross into the U.S. along the 3,200-kilometer border with Mexico.

Trump declared, as he first did on Friday, “I may declare a national emergency, depending on what happens in the next few days,” to build the wall without congressional approval by using money that had been designated for military construction projects.

The shutdown has forced the closure of museums in Washington, with trash going uncollected at understaffed national parks. If the shutdown extends to February, food assistance for poorer Americans would be curtailed, as would tax refunds at the height of the annual period when Americans file tax returns on their income from the previous year.

About 800,000 federal government workers have been furloughed or are continuing to work without pay during the shutdown. In recent days, Trump voiced little concern about any inconvenience they may have in meeting their household bills, saying that “most of the workers not getting paid are Democrats.”

On Sunday, he said, “I can relate,” but added, “I’m sure people will make adjustments.” In past shutdowns, furloughed government workers have been paid retroactively when government funding has resumed and most officials in Washington assume the same will happen this time as well.

Trump officials made the rounds of Sunday news talk shows to support his position on border wall funding and refusal to reopen the shuttered government agencies that are unrelated to the wall while continuing to debate a budget for the Department of Homeland Security, which controls border operations, for another month.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told Fox News that Democrats are “just unwilling to let this president win” on the wall dispute. She said that “at some point, we have to say ‘enough is enough,'” to extend the shutdown in order to secure wall funding.

“This president is prepared to do what is necessary to protect our borders,” she said.

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he believes Democrats “think they’re winning the PR battle and they’re willing to drag this out because they think it hurts the president.”

Democrats have vowed they will not give Trump taxpayer money for the wall, especially since he said repeatedly during his 2016 campaign that Mexico would pay for it, which Mexican officials have often said they will not do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
…

The race to challenge U.S. President Donald Trump in November 2020 kicked off in earnest Saturday, when the first major Democratic Party hopeful to announce her candidacy visited with voters across Iowa.

Bounding onto stage in a packed building in Des Moines’s trendy East Village, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts waved to the crowd before speaking in a strained voice. The evening appearance came at the end of a four-city tour across the Midwestern state.

“Nevertheless, I persisted,” she said, referencing both her marathon day and a favorite rallying cry that brought cheers.

Field of candidates

In launching her campaign more than a year before both the primary season and the general election, the 69-year-old Warren hopes to gain an edge with Iowa’s roughly 3 million residents before the field of candidates becomes too crowded.

A larger-than-usual deluge of candidates — possibly up to two dozen — are expected to hit the state within the coming year, including an unprecedented number of women and minorities.

Top contenders include Senators Cory Booker, Kamala Harris — both of whom visited last fall — Kirsten Gillibrand and Amy Klobuchar.

Former U.S. Representative and businessman John Delaney announced in mid-2017 and has been actively working to raise his name recognition in the state.

“It’s definitely much sooner this time,” Pat Rynard said of candidates who have already declared their intention to run. Rynard is a former Democratic campaign staffer who runs the political news site Iowa Starting Line.

During the run-up to the 2016 election, for example, the first Republican and Democrat hopefuls formally announced their bids in March and April of 2015.

“I think it’s a reflection of how big the field is, and the fact that there aren’t any front-runners,” Rynard said.

He expects recent poll results indicating voter preferences for former Vice President Joe Biden and former Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders to change as other candidates gain name recognition.

“I think an actual accurate poll would show that well over half of potential caucusgoers are completely undecided,” Rynard said.

Standing in line

That’s certainly the case for Iowans Ed Hotchkin and Ryan Barcus, who stood in line in unusually warm weather to see the senator speak.

Hotchkin, a Des Moines resident who wore a pink 2020 Feel The Bern! hat and voted for Hillary Clinton in the last election, said he was now considering Warren and Sanders. He’ll be attending rallies like this one in order to catch the “nuance” between the two candidates.

Barcus, a school teacher in the Des Moines area, hasn’t made his mind up, but the success of Democrats in the most recent midterm elections has got him energized.

“A lot of people think it’s too early for candidates to be here in Iowa, but I think they need to be here right now. The people of Iowa want to talk to these candidates,” Barcus said.

With its shrinking, but still significant rural base, Iowa and its caucuses mark the start of the multimonth nominating process. Different from a primary, in which voters simply mark a ballot, the process of caucusing gathers voters together in almost 1,700 separate simultaneous meetings across the state to discuss party platform issues.

In the 2020 caucuses, due to pressure from national party leaders, voters should also have the option to submit an absentee vote.

“[Campaigning in Iowa] really helps get the candidates focused and their messages honed down for the general election,” said Troy Price, chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party.

‘Retail politics’

While Iowa is often criticized for being a poor representation of the entire U.S., and for receiving outsized attention as just one in dozens of contests across the country, Price disagreed.

He highlighted the often-overlooked diversity within the predominantly white state, as well as its “good mix of urban and rural areas.” Price also pointed to the fact that Iowa’s smaller population lends itself to “retail politics,” meaning voters get a chance to meet candidates in church basements, coffee shops and school auditoriums.

“When it’s a state like Iowa, folks get a chance to actually get to know the candidates and be vetted in a way that may not be possible in a bigger state,” Price said.

As for whether the state will field any serious Republican challengers to Trump, analysts say it’s unlikely. The president enjoys a very high approval rating among Iowa Republicans,  with Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann saying in an emailed statement to VOA that rural Americans are “thriving under President Trump’s pro-growth economy.”

He added, “The Republican Party of Iowa welcomes Republicans from across the country to come and visit our state and talk to our grassroots voters, but we are 100 percent behind President Donald Trump and will work tirelessly to re-elect him in 2020.”

While most voters VOA interviewed said they will likely remain undecided for awhile, Rynard anticipates that moderate Democratic candidates won’t fare well. That could be good news for Senator Warren, who some accuse of being too liberal.

“I think Iowa caucusgoers will be going for a candidate who is more progressive than they’ve ever nominated,” he said.
…

White House officials and congressional aides will meet again Sunday to continue discussions about how to end the partial government shutdown that has affected hundreds of thousands of federal workers and caused delays and inconvenience for Americans.

The shutdown has entered its third week.

The crux of the discussions is border security. President Donald Trump is adamant that he wants $5.6 billion to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico to block undocumented migrants trying to enter the U.S.

Congressional Democrats have vowed not to give the U.S. leader any money for the wall. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called the wall “immoral.”

Trump tweeted late Saturday that he is going to Camp David Sunday to discuss border security and other topics with senior staff.

About the same time he tweeted this photo:

U.S. congressional leaders and White House officials held talks Saturday in Washington in an effort to end the partial shutdown. Discussions ended a few hours later without any progress.

Senior White House adviser, and Trump son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen were involved in the meeting Saturday, with Nielsen briefing those in attendance on border security. Democrats asked DHS for written details about the agency’s budget needs, which the White House said it would provide.

Vice President Mike Pence, who also participated in Saturday’s meeting, described the discussions as “productive” in a tweet.

Trump, however, tweeted shortly after Pence, saying, “Not much headway made today. Second meeting set for tomorrow. After so many decades, must finally and permanently fix the problems on the Southern Border!”

Pelosi said in a statement released Saturday, “The senseless uncertainty and chaos of the Trump Shutdown must end, now.”

Her statement said Democrats would “begin passing individual appropriations bills to re-open all government agencies, starting with the appropriations bill that covers the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service. This action is necessary so that the American people can receive their tax refunds on schedule.”

Trump has threatened to bypass Congress and declare a national emergency in order to get the wall built.

About 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed or are working without pay. This is the fourth-longest government shutdown — partial or full — in the past 40 years. The president has said he is willing to continue the shutdown “for years” until there is funding for the wall that he promised Mexico would pay for during his successful presidential campaign.

The shutdown has affected government services around the country and if it continues there could be dire consequences. Money for the food stamp program, which helps millions of low-income Americans buy food, will expire in March.

Federal income tax refunds and tax return processing will also be delayed.

Transportation Security Administration agents who screen travelers at the nation’s airports have begun calling in sick in apparent protest at being required to work without pay.

Federal courts will run out of money Jan. 11, according to the administrative office of the U.S. courts. That could delay trials. The shutdown has already resulted in the suspension of issuing marriage licenses in Washington.

The Smithsonian museums in Washington, including the National Zoo, are closed.

Late Thursday, the Democrat-controlled House passed legislation to reopen the federal government and fund the Department of Homeland Security until early February. The measure did not include the $5.6 billion the president has demanded for the border wall.

The Senate passed an identical bill last month, while Republicans still controlled both chambers of Congress.

However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said last week he would not put any legislation to a vote in the Senate unless Trump supported it. He called the House plan to end the shutdown “political theater.”

Democrats have said they will only discuss border security once the government is reopened.

Trump, who was not part of the negotiations, spent Saturday morning tweeting about the partial shutdown and border wall.

He also tweeted, without evidence, “I don’t care that most of the workers not getting paid are Democrats.”

Trump said, again without evidence, the 800,000 federal workers affected by the shutdown want him to “keep going” for border security.

When asked Friday about how unpaid workers are expected to manage without a financial safety net, the president replied: “The safety net is going to be having a strong border because we’re going to be safe.”
…

President Donald Trump held forth on all manner of things this past week as he emerged from a “lonely” spell over the holidays. He opined for more than 90 minutes to the press, at the top of a Cabinet meeting, on the shutdown, immigration, drug prices, the Soviet history in Afghanistan, his approval ratings, Syria, oil prices, the nature of walls, the attractiveness of his generals (“better looking than Tom Cruise”), and much more.  

 

He capped the week with a Rose Garden news conference that stretched for an hour. And he’s been tweeting a lot. 

 

Trump’s accounts did not show tremendous fealty to the facts. Here’s a sampling of what he said:  

​The wall 

 

Trump: “We’ve already built a lot of the wall.” — Rose Garden news conference Friday.

The facts: He hasn’t. 

 

Trump’s claim is only supported when counting work done under past presidents and ignoring the fact that fences from prior administrations are not the towering walls he promised. The 2006 Secure Fence Act has resulted in about 650 miles (1,050 kilometers) of border barrier. Money approved by Congress in March 2018 is to pay for 84 miles (135 km), but that work is not done. Trump has achieved some renovation of existing barrier. 

 

Trump: “The drugs are pouring into this country. They don’t go through the ports of entry. When they do, they sometimes get caught.” — Rose Garden news conference. 

 

The facts: He’s wrong in saying drug smugglers don’t or only rarely use official border crossings for their trafficking. Land ports of entry are their primary means for getting drugs into the country, not stretches of the border without barriers, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says. 

 

The agency said in a November report that the most common trafficking technique by transnational criminal organizations is to hide drugs in passenger vehicles or tractor-trailers as they drive into the U.S. though entry ports, where they are stopped and subject to inspection. They also employ buses, cargo trains and tunnels, the report says, citing smuggling methods that would not be choked off by a border wall. 

 

Trump: “The new trade deal we have with Mexico and Canada — what we save on that, just with Mexico, will pay for the wall many times over, just in a period of a year, two years or three years. So I view that as absolutely Mexico is paying for the wall.” — Rose Garden news conference. 

 

The facts: Mexico is not paying for the wall and nothing in the trade agreement would cover or refund the construction cost. 

 

Trump is assuming a wide variety of economic benefits will come from the agreement, but they can’t be quantified or counted on. For example, he said the deal will dissuade some U.S. companies from moving operations to Mexico and he credits that possibility as a payment by Mexico for his wall.  

The deal updates the North American Free Trade Agreement, in the main preserving NAFTA’s liberalized environment of low or no tariffs among the U.S., Mexico and Canada, while making certain improvements for each country. Trump stated inaccurately that it’s “brand-new. It’s totally different.” 

 

Moreover, it’s not in effect. The deal has yet to be ratified in any member country and its chances of winning legislative approval are not assured. 

 

Trump has argued repeatedly that Mexico is footing the bill even while insisting on $5.6 billion from the U.S. Treasury to go toward wall construction. His demand and the refusal of Democrats to satisfy it are behind the budget standoff that has closed parts of the government. 

 

Syria 

 

Trump: “We had a fantastic meeting with the generals and the Syria situation. I mean, I’m the only person in the history of our country that could really decimate ISIS, say we’re bringing the troops back home over a period of time. I never said so quickly, but over a period of time.” — Cabinet meeting Wednesday.  

 

The facts: He’s wrong about his past statements regarding the pace of withdrawal. In a video posted to his Twitter account on Dec. 19, for instance, Trump said of the roughly 2,000 troops in Syria: “They’re all coming back, and they’re coming back now.” 

 

Trump: “I read, when we pull out, ‘Oh, Russia is thrilled.’ Russia is not happy. You know why they’re not happy? Because they like it when we’re killing ISIS [Islamic State fighters], because we’re killing them for them, and we’re killing them for [Syrian President Bashar al-]Assad, and we’re killing ISIS also for Iran.” — Cabinet meeting. 

 

The facts: Russia says it’s happy. A U.S. withdrawal opens opportunities for Moscow and Tehran to increase their influence and may help the Syrian government survive as a Kurdish-led opposition force loses its military ally on the ground. 

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the U.S. “has done the right thing” in planning to pull out.  

 

Afghanistan 

 

Trump: “The reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia. They [the Soviets] were right to be there.” — Cabinet meeting.  

​The facts: His assertion that the Soviet Union was experiencing a terrorist influx from Afghanistan when it invaded in 1979 is out of step with history. And his belief that the Soviets were right to invade is a stark departure from U.S. and world opinion. 

 

The Soviets were trying to bolster communists in Afghanistan and possibly expand their influence against the United States and the West.  

 

World condemnation was swift: The U.N. General Assembly voted 104-18 to deplore the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. The U.S. supported the anti-communist rebels, giving them shoulder-fired rockets to down Soviet aircraft. The Soviets withdrew in 1989. 

 

Trump: “Russia used to be the Soviet Union. Afghanistan made it Russia, because they went bankrupt fighting in Afghanistan.” — Cabinet meeting. 

 

The facts: Afghanistan was far from the sole reason for the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The dissolution occurred in a time of ethnic and political troubles, economic woes and a series of revolutions that led Soviet republics to seek their independence. The Soviet demise was accelerated by the heavy cost of competing with the West to wield influence around the world, including in Afghanistan.  

​Oil prices 

 

Trump: “Do you think it’s just luck that gas prices are so low, and falling? Low gas prices are like another Tax Cut!” — tweet Tuesday. 

Trump: “It’s not luck. It’s not luck. I called up certain people, and I said, ‘Let that damn oil and gasoline — you let it flow — the oil.’ It was going up to $125. If that would’ve happened, then you would’ve had a recession, depression.” — Cabinet meeting Wednesday. 

 

The facts: It’s not all about him, or even mostly about him.  

 

While Americans may end up paying somewhat less for gasoline this year, Trump’s suggestion that he deserves all the credit and averted a U.S. economic depression is an exaggeration. Oil prices, which peaked Oct. 3, have been generally falling on the realization that U.S. sanctions against Iran would not create a shortage and on fear that a global oversupply of oil will spill into 2019 if slower international economic growth depresses energy demand.  

 

The president’s supposed “let it flow” edict did not stop OPEC and its Russia-led allies from agreeing last month to cut oil production. That initially failed to stop oil prices from sliding further; they have since rebounded a few dollars in the past week. Continued OPEC production cuts would push prices higher.  

 

Trump has pointed to his positive relations with oil exporter Saudi Arabia. As a so-called swing producer with the ability to adjust production up or down relatively quickly, it can indeed influence the price of crude. But the market is complex: Canada, for example, is actually the top source of U.S. oil imports, with Saudi Arabia second.  

 

Tariffs 

 

Trump: “The United States Treasury has taken in MANY billions of dollars from the Tariffs we are charging China and other countries that have not treated us fairly. In the meantime we are doing well in various Trade Negotiations currently going on.” — tweet Thursday.  

​The facts: Trump is off on two major issues. First, tariffs are taxes paid largely by U.S. business and consumers, not foreign countries. And while Trump’s “MANY billions” might sound like a lot, it’s doing little to nothing to improve the federal balance sheet. The U.S. government spent $4.1 trillion last fiscal year and the budget deficit shot up, according to Trump’s own Treasury Department. 

 

Customs and duties generated $41.3 billion in revenues last year, up from $34.6 billion in 2017. 

 

That $6.7 billion increase occurred in part because of the president’s tariffs. But it amounted to just 0.16 percent of federal spending. 

 

Mattis 

 

Trump, on Jim Mattis: “I wish him well. I hope he does well. But, as you know, President [Barack] Obama fired him and essentially so did I. I want results.” — Cabinet meeting Wednesday. 

 

The facts: Actually, Mattis resigned as defense secretary in protest over Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops from Syria. 

 

The retired Marine general announced on Dec. 20 in a resignation letter that he was stepping down after Trump’s decision to withdraw 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria. Mattis said he would stay on the job until the end of February. Three days later, Trump said he was replacing Mattis with the second-ranking defense official, Pat Shanahan, on Jan. 1. 

 

As to the tenure under Obama, Mattis served as commander of the military’s Central Command. He departed a few months earlier than expected in 2013, in part because of disagreements over Iran. 

 

Drug prices 

 

Trump: “I think you’re going to see a tremendous reduction in drug prices.” — Cabinet meeting Wednesday. 

 

The facts: Prices continue to rise. Administration policies announced last year and currently being completed don’t seem to have shifted that trend.  

Figures on U.S. prescription drug price changes compiled by health data company Elsevier show that from Dec. 20 through Jan. 2, there were 1,179 product price changes. Of those, 30 were price cuts and the remaining 1,149 were price increases, with 328 of them between 9 percent and 10 percent. All but one of the rest were by lower percentages. Elsevier spokesman Chris Capot said more companies will be announcing price increases this month. 

 

Separately, a data firm whose software can help patients find the most cost-effective medications says its information shows price increases on many commonly used drugs for conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes. 

 

“In the first two days of January, prices have increased on more than 250 different products,” said Michael Rea, CEO of Rx Savings Solutions. The average increase is about 6 percent, he added. 

 

Immigration 

 

Trump, on the number of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally: “I used to hear 11 million all the time. It would always stay right at 11. I said, ‘Does it ever increase or go down?’ ‘No, it’s 11.’ Nobody knows. It’s probably 30, 35 million people. They would flow in, mostly from the southern border, they’d come in and nobody would talk about it, nobody would do anything about it.” — Cabinet meeting Wednesday. 

 

The facts: It’s nowhere close to 30 million to 35 million, according to his own Homeland Security secretary as well as independent estimates.  

The nonpartisan Pew Research Center estimates there were 10.7 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally in 2016, the most recent data available. Advocacy groups on both sides of the immigration issue have similar estimates. 

 

At a House hearing last month, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen acknowledged the number was “somewhere” between 11 million and 22 million, significantly lower than Trump’s claim of 35 million. 

 

According to Pew, the number of immigrants in the U.S. illegally reached a height of 12.2 million in 2007, representing about 4 percent of the U.S. population, before declining in part because of a weakening U.S. economy. 

 

Trump: “The coyotes are using children to gain access into this country. They’re using these children. They’re not with families. They’re using the children. They’re taking the children. And then they dispose of the children after they’re done. This has been going on for years. This isn’t unique to us. But we want to stop it.” — Cabinet meeting Wednesday. 

 

The facts: This does happen, though it’s not as common as Trump suggests by talking about it so often. 

 

He is referring to adults who come with children they falsely claim to be theirs, so that they won’t be detained under a no-child-separation policy. 

 

But such cases of fraud are rare. According to the Homeland Security Department, about 500 immigrants were found to be not a “legitimate family unit” and thus separated upon detention from April 19 to Sept. 30 of last year. That’s a small fraction of the 107,000 families apprehended in the last budget year, which ended Sept. 30.
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The education of the star-studded class of House freshmen has begun.

Lesson one: Speaking with the bluntness of a candidate can produce swift and uncomfortable results.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib learned that before lunch Friday, when her profane remarks the night before vowing to impeach President Donald Trump drew almost no support, and plenty of pushback, from members of her party.

“It’s been pretty intense,” Tlaib, D-Mich., told The Associated Press in a brief hallway interview Friday as she reported to the House to face her colleagues.

Hours after Tlaib was sworn in as part of the history-making class of freshmen that helped flip the House to Democratic control, she ran afoul of the widespread sense among her colleagues that they should focus for now on health care and other policies rather than impeachment — at least until special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation concludes.

“We’re gonna impeach the motherf—er,” Tlaib exclaimed during a party Thursday night hosted by the liberal activist group MoveOn, according to video and comments on Twitter.

It was a striking coda to the Democrats’ heady ascendance to the House majority Thursday, sparking unusually public corrections from House veterans.

“I disagree with what she said,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., during a CNN interview. His committee would be the one to begin impeachment proceedings.

“It is too early to talk about that intelligently,” Nadler said. “We have to follow the facts.”

Newcomers routinely stumble as they learn how things are done on Capitol Hill. But Tlaib and her classmates have been celebrated in magazine profiles for their independence and their promises to stand up to the powers that be. By rebuking one, the more seasoned Democrats were effectively warning the others.

“I think some of our new members probably don’t realize that you are always on, that when you are a member of Congress, there’s always someone listening,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. She said she hopes Tlaib’s remarks aren’t news for long.

More than Tlaib’s profanity, it was her vow to impeach Trump that drew her colleagues’ disapproval.

Tlaib’s defiance flew in the face of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s warning to focus on policies the candidates had promised ahead of the Nov. 6 elections. The timing also chafed, just hours before congressional leaders were headed to the White House to try to resolve the standoff over the border wall Trump is demanding in exchange for reopening the government. Republicans pounced, using the occasion to question the Democrats’ true priorities and Pelosi’s leadership.

With a tight smile, Pelosi rejected Tlaib’s profanity and her impeachment vow.

“That is not the position of the House Democratic caucus,” Pelosi said on MSNBC of Tlaib’s comments. “I don’t think we should make a big deal of it.”

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., served up a reminder to the new members that seniority rules in Congress.

“She’s a freshman. It’s her first day here,” Connolly said of Tlaib. “She went in front of an enthusiastic crowd of her supporters and it was red meat for them. She yielded to that temptation.”

“I’m sure upon reflection,” Connolly suggested, “she might choose other words to describe her feelings.”

Talk of impeachment remains in the air, fueled by a handful of Democrats on Pelosi’s left flank who are pressuring her to more aggressively pursue the issue. But such proceedings appear unlikely for now. Even if the House advances any articles of impeachment, a two-thirds-majority vote to convict Trump in the Republican-controlled Senate and remove him from office would seem out of the question, barring astonishing new revelations.

Tlaib wasn’t the only freshman who got a lesson in how one comment can upend Capitol Hill.

Some of Tlaib’s classmates were pursued for reaction — standard results when a political ally says something that raises eyebrows.

“I am not talking about those things,” laughed Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., when asked Friday to respond to Tlaib’s remarks.

She said she was elected because she talked about preserving health care. “I’m not going to tell anyone else what to do, but certainly, I think, it would behoove all of us to really be working for the people who need” Congress’ help.
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White House senior staff will be gathering over the weekend at the Camp David presidential compound for a “staff retreat” to discuss the administration’s priorities for 2019. And White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says President Trump will be joining them and leading meetings Sunday.

The gathering comes as Mick Mulavney assumes his new role as acting chief of staff following John Kelly’s departure earlier this week.

Meanwhile, Trump has tasked Vice President Mike Pence, senior adviser Jared Kushner and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen with meeting with House and Senate leadership staff to continue trying to hash out a deal to end the partial government shutdown.

It is now in its 14th day.
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President Trump and congressional leaders failed again to reach a deal to end the partial government shutdown, with both sides signaling a deadlock over their positions on funding for the U.S.-Mexico border wall. The president has assigned a working group to negotiate with lawmakers over the weekend, but said that he is prepared to continue the shutdown for months, even years. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the latest.
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The National Park Service says parts of Death Valley National Park closed Friday, the latest park to suffer the effects of the partial government shutdown.

Officials say several campsites in the park had to be closed because of health and safety concerns, including human waste, trash and vandalism.

Park officials say donations are keeping several other campsites in Death Valley National Park open as well as some restrooms. Visitors are still being asked to try to use restrooms before entering the park and to pack up all waste when they leave.

Three visitor deaths

The shutdown has affected most national parks, which have been left without many of the rangers and other park officials who usually keep the parks running.

Park officials say three people have died in national parks since the shutdown began: a 14-year-old girl who fell in Glen Canyon Recreation Area in Arizona, a man who suffered a head injury from a fall in Yosemite National Park, and a woman who was killed by a falling tree at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which straddles the borders of North Carolina and Tennessee.

Park officials say that accidental deaths are not unusual at national parks, with an average of six people dying each week in the park system.

While it is not clear if any of those deaths could have been prevented by more park staff on site, The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the investigation into at least one of the deaths, the accident in Yosemite, has been delayed because of the shutdown.

Parks left open, unsupervised

Unlike some previous shutdowns, the Trump administration has left most parks open to visitors despite staff furloughs.

The move has allowed people vacationing in parks to continue with their plans, but has led to cases of overflowing trash cans and park bathrooms not being cleaned frequently enough.

Reports of illegal camping and vandalism at some parks have led to some restrictions.

Campgrounds at Joshua Tree closed earlier this week because of health concerns that vault toilets were near their capacity.

In the southern Sierra Nevada in Central California, some areas of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks have also been closed.

About 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed or are working without pay. As of Friday, the partial shutdown had been in effect for 14 days. This is the fourth-longest government shutdown — partial or full — in the past 40 years.
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The Supreme Court is plunging back into the issue of whether electoral districts can be too partisan.

Disputes have arisen in cases involving North Carolina’s heavily Republican congressional map and a Democratic congressional district in Maryland, and the justices said Friday they will hear arguments in March.

The high court could come out with the first limits on partisan politics in the drawing of electoral districts, but also could ultimately decide that federal judges have no role in trying to police political mapmaking.

The court took up the issue of partisan gerrymandering last term in cases from Wisconsin and the same Maryland district, but the justices failed to reach a decision on limiting political line-drawing for political gain.

No history for Kavanaugh

Justice Anthony Kennedy had said he was open to limits. He has since retired, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh has taken Kennedy’s seat. He has no judicial record on the issue.

The court again has taken one case in which Democrats are accused of unfairly limiting Republicans’ political power and one in which Republicans are the alleged culprits. The court also has the entire North Carolina congressional map before it, but only the one Maryland district.

In both cases, however, lower courts have found that the party in charge of redistricting — Republicans in North Carolina, Democrats in Maryland — egregiously violated the rights of voters in the other party.

The North Carolina map was redrawn in 2016 because federal courts determined two districts originally drawn in 2011 were illegal because of excessive racial bias.

In November, Republicans won at least nine of the 13 seats in North Carolina’s congressional delegation and appeared to have won a 10th seat, in keeping with how many they held before the 2016 remapping. But state election officials have so far declined to certify the results in the 9th District in south-central North Carolina because of allegations of absentee ballot fraud.

A key Republican in the North Carolina redistricting process, state Rep. David Lewis, has said that he drew 10 Republican districts because he did not “believe it’s possible to draw a map with 11 Republicans and two Democrats.”

Three-judge panel reviews decision

In January, a three-judge court found that the map violated the Constitution and ordered the state to come up with a new plan quickly, in time for the 2018 elections. But the Supreme Court delayed enforcement of the court order, mainly because the justices already were considering the partisan districting cases from Maryland and Wisconsin.

When those cases did not settle the issue, the high court ordered the three judges to take a new look at their earlier decision. They reaffirmed the ruling in August, but also concluded there wasn’t enough time to put new districts in place for 2018.

Common Cause, the watchdog group that supports limits on partisan line-drawing, is leading the challenge to the North Carolina districts. “Whether it is Democrats or Republicans manipulating the election maps, gerrymanders cheat voters out of true representation,” Common Cause president Karen Hobert Flynn said in a statement. “The Supreme Court has the opportunity to set a clear standard that will restore a meaningful vote to millions of Americans disenfranchised by gerrymanders in Maryland, North Carolina and across the country.”

Bill D’Elia, a spokesman for North Carolina Republican state Senate leader Phil Berger, said Friday that Democrats have been looking for much of this decade to find judges who will redraw maps that will boost their candidates. “We hope the Supreme Court finally puts this nonsense to rest and that Democrats go back to the old-fashioned way of winning elections: convincing people to vote for them,” D’Elia said in an email. 

In Maryland, Democratic Rep. David Trone was sworn into office Thursday to represent a district that runs from the Washington suburbs to the rural northwest corner of the state. Democrats who controlled the redistricting process overhauled the district in 2011, turning what had been a reliably Republican stronghold into a Democratic district.

Republicans files suit

Several Republican voters sued over the new district’s boundaries, claiming it unfairly favored Democrats.

A day after the November elections, a three-judge panel agreed with the Republicans who sued and ordered Maryland officials to draw a new congressional redistricting plan that isn’t tainted by partisan gerrymandering.

Judge Paul Niemeyer of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit said in his opinion for the panel that the Maryland congressional map removed roughly 66,000 Republican voters from the district and added around 24,000 Democratic voters, “bringing about the single greatest alteration of voter makeup in any district in the Nation following the 2010 census.”

Trone is not a party to the case, but he filed a legal brief in which he said he “is no fan of partisan gerrymandering, but that does not mean it is a terminal disease, much less one that the judiciary can or should cure.”   
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