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Jake Sherman

7 Oct, 10 tweets, 2 min read

Playbook this AM: Trump’s ‘Big Lebowski’ moment

HAVE YOU SEEN “THE BIG LEBOWSKI”? WALTER - played by John Goodman - is not a big fan of DONNY, played by Steve Buscemi. During one of their bowling scenes, WALTER says to DONNY: “You have no frame of reference, Donny. You’re like a child who wanders in in the middle of a movie”

DONNY, in this case, bears more than a passing resemblance to President DONALD TRUMP. HIS TWEETS TUESDAY about the Covid stimulus talks seem like he’s awaking from a monthslong slumber, unbriefed by his advisers and unaware of his surroundings as he enters the fray.

TRUMP PULLED OUT OF THE TALKS at 2:48 p.m., citing the nearly $1 trillion difference between the GOP and Democratic negotiating stances -- which many had been privately suggesting he do for some time.

Then at 9:54 p.m., he suggested Congress pass “25 Billion Dollars for Airline Payroll Support, & 135 Billion Dollars for Paycheck Protection Program for Small Business,” and a $1,200 stimulus check for every American.

MAN, WHAT A STRATEGY! If you think you’ve heard this before, it’s because you have! Republicans have been suggesting stand-alone bills for months. Speaker NANCY PELOSI has even said that she would pass a stand-alone airline relief bill

PETE DEFAZIO tried last week for a standalone airline relief bill, and the GOP blocked it. If TRUMP had pushed for this a month ago, when Congress was in session, it might have had a chance of being successful.

THIS COMES TOWARD THE MIDDLE OF A BEFUDDLING week for TRUMP.

HE TESTED POSITIVE for the coronavirus, and landed in Walter Reed Medical Center.

… HIS DR has given a series of murky news conferences, which have, at times, been undermined by the president himself or his aides

… HE TOOK A RIDE AROUND WALTER REED to visit fans, which was widely portrayed as irresponsible.

… HE LEFT THE HOSPITAL MONDAY, and made a point of taking his mask off as he got to the White House. Then he said people shouldn’t feel like Covid dominates their lives -

… THE JOINT CHIEFS are quarantined.

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More from @JakeSherman

Jake Sherman

@JakeSherman

6 Oct

The collapse of the Covid relief talks is not surprising, it is, in fact, very much expected if you have been following the negotiations and talking to people who are involved in the back and forth -- as all of us reporters in the Capitol have.

the dynamics here have always been clear: Mnuchin wanted a deal, McCarthy/McConnell/Meadows were fine with one, but weren't going to do a $2T bill. The sweet spot was somewhere in the $1.3T to $1.5T range — and even THAT would’ve been a stretch for Rs.

As soon as Meadows was gone from the room, Mnuchin had room to run, but had a maze of tripwires. McConnell meanwhile was never going to put a $2T bill on the floor because it didnt have the support of the majority of his majority.

Read 5 tweets

Jake Sherman

@JakeSherman

4 Oct

Playbook

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP has tweeted just five times from Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda -- but one of them was pushing Congress to strike a Covid relief bill. “OUR GREAT USA WANTS & NEEDS STIMULUS. WORK TOGETHER AND GET IT DONE. Thank you!”

THIS IS AS FAR AS HE’S LEANED IN to this process, and it would appear that now that Treasury Secretary STEVEN MNUCHIN is heavily incentivized to get a Covid relief deal. TRUMP wants to show that he’s working. And MNUCHIN-- already eager for a deal -- is now on the hook to deliver

IT’S NOT THAT EASY. MNUCHIN and Speaker NANCY PELOSI are still haggling over state and local funding and enhanced unemployment insurance -- the same issues they’ve been haggling over for months. PELOSI wants 2t package, and the WH has indicated $1 trillion range.

Read 6 tweets

Jake Sherman

@JakeSherman

2 Oct

PLAYBOOK

IT’S EXTRAORDINARILY EARLY, we don’t know much at the moment, and we all need to be vigilant about everything we say and suppose. But here are some early points to frame your thinking:

@vp

1) EVERY MOVE MADE, every word uttered and tweet published by the White House will be under a microscope as the world tries to understand the health of the most powerful man in the world. We will be looking this morning for test results and assurance from @vp and @SpeakerPelosi

Read 15 tweets

Jake Sherman

@JakeSherman

1 Oct

@SpeakerPelosi

Playbook PM: Real talk on Covid relief

LET US SPEND A MINUTE SEPARATING SIGNAL from noise here this afternoon when it comes to Covid relief talks between @SpeakerPelosi and @stevenmnuchin1

@SpeakerPelosi

@SpeakerPelosi @stevenmnuchin1 NOISE: @SpeakerPelosi saying she is “hopeful” for an agreement to emerge from Covid relief talks. That hope, she said, is based on “the needs of the American people.”

@SpeakerPelosi

@SpeakerPelosi @stevenmnuchin1 SIGNAL: PELOSI saying at her news conference today that the two sides are “far apart” on state and local funding; they have fundamental disagreements about business tax provisions and the the Child Income Tax Credit; …

Read 4 tweets

Jake Sherman

@JakeSherman

1 Oct

@SpeakerPelosi

Before a leave for the Capitol this morning, wanted to point out a few things in Playbook.

Today is a big day in @SpeakerPelosi and @stevenmnuchin1 seemingly endless quest to inject more than $1 trillion of fresh money into the economy.

@SpeakerPelosi

@SpeakerPelosi @stevenmnuchin1 PELOSI and MNUCHIN met for an hour and a half Wednesday afternoon to try to reach an agreement, but found many areas that needed work.

@SpeakerPelosi

@SpeakerPelosi @stevenmnuchin1 Here’s what our sources told us remained open: state and local funding (long an issue … Ds want roughly $500 billion, and Republicans are near $250 billion), K-12 ($225 billion for Dems, and $150 billion for Republicans) and a host of tax provisions, some related to health care.

Read 18 tweets

Jake Sherman

@JakeSherman

30 Sep

OK — Some Covid relief updates from Playbook

MNUCHIN confirmed this morning what we reported Tuesday: that his counter to PELOSI’S $2.2 trillion Covid relief offer will be in the neighborhood of the PROBLEM SOLVERS’ $1.5 trillion deal.

PELOSI FLATLY REJECTED that $1.5 trillion offer a few weeks ago, saying it was woefully inadequate.

MNUCHIN met with White House chief of staff MARK MEADOWS on Tuesday afternoon and today as he prepped the deal.

THERE ARE many open issues here. SOME NOTES …

-- MNUCHIN’S OFFER has an “escalator clause,” which could bump the topline up to $2 trillion. THE QUESTION becomes this: Does the “escalator clause” make Dems happy enough? Can PELOSI accept it?

Read 7 tweets

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