Playbook: THE GOVT SHUTS DOWN TOMORROW NIGHT AT MIDNIGHT. Unemployment benefits have already run out. But Trump, comfortably enveloped at his resort in FL, seems to be growing more indignant that the rescue package deal his treasury secretary cut with Congress is insufficient.
HE SEEMS TO BE GROWING more indignant, and digging in further against the bill, which passed both chambers comfortably.
TRUMP at 12:38 a.m.: “Increase payments to the people, get rid of the ‘pork’.” … at 12:36 a.m., linking to his video in which he announced his gripes with the bill: “Speaking for America!” …
at 9:56 p.m.: “$2000 + $2000 plus other family members. Not $600. Remember, it was China’s fault!” … at 9:10 a.m. Saturday: “I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill. Also, stop the billions of dollars in ‘pork’.”
THE PRESIDENT’S AIDES and allies are working to try to get him to reverse his stance, with evidently little success.
THIS MAY BE THE LEAST LOGICAL fight of TRUMP’S presidency. In the past, he turned on Congress when they ignored him -- see the shutdown after the 2018 midterm election, when they left out money for his border wall. TRUMP didn’t make this ask until after the deal was cut.
AND WHAT ABOUT STEVEN MNUCHIN, the eager-turned-scorned Treasury secretary, who seemed to revel in his prowess to make deals with Democrats. What a humiliating episode for him.
KEEP AN EYE ON THIS: In the Democrats’ $2,000 check bill from last week, they included language that would make it contingent on TRUMP signing the overall Covid/funding bill.
THE LANGUAGE: “b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section are contingent upon the enactment of the COVID-related Tax Relief Act of 2020 and shall apply (if at all) as if included in the enactment of section 272 of such Act.”
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THAT’S IT? President @realDonaldTrump made all this noise about the Covid relief and government funding bill only to sign it and get nothing in return?
TRUMP got taken to the cleaners.
WHAT A BIZARRE, embarrassing episode for the president. He opposed a bill his administration negotiated. He had no discernible strategy and no hand to play — and it showed. He folded, and got nothing besides a few days of attention and chaos.
ZIP. ZERO. ZILCH. If he was going to give up this easy, he should’ve just kept quiet and signed the bill. It would’ve been less embarrassing.
i put this in Playbook this AM — coming out shortly — but worth noting here
TRUMP has Hill Republicans in a horrible bind and they’re getting blamed for the relief/funding impasse
San Diego Union-Tribune: “FEDERAL STIMULUS MEASURE REMAINS IN LIMBO: Republicans in House block effort to advance $2,000 relief checks” … Hartford Courant: “GOP says no to $2K checks” … Tampa Bay Times: “$2K checks tie down stimulus”
… Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Relief bill’s fate remains up in the air: In U.S. House, calls for $2,000 checks, changes to foreign aid both fail” … Chicago Tribune: “House GOP says no to $2K checks: Virus relief remains stuck in limbo with shutdown looming” …
Hello from the House chamber. Here this morning for this pro forma session: Dem Reps. Steny Hoyer, Filemon Vela, Don Beyer, Debbie Dingell, ... GOP Rep. Rob Wittman. Will update here as this gets going.
The chamber is quiet. Mostly empty chamber. In the chair: Debbie Dingell.
The chaplain acknowledges in his prayer that a deal has been reached but further complications “have been introduced.”
G’morning from the Capitol, where we’re about to have a pro forma session in both chambers during which nothing will get done. This begins at 9
In the meantime, here’s what we said in Playbook this morning.
Headline: "Cyclone of uncertainty and chaos"
WITH 27 DAYS LEFT IN HIS PRESIDENCY, and the nation on the doorstep of Christmas, DONALD JOHN TRUMP has sucked Americans into a violent cyclone of uncertainty and chaos.
HE IS PARDONING CRIMINALS at a breakneck clip. Last night it was MANAFORT, who was in prison on tax charges, R STONE and CHARLES KUSHNER, IVANKA's father in law. Earlier this week crooked politicians and other unseemly actors. @BenSasse called the pardons “rotten to the core.”
OK — so Playbook PM is about to come out. And i regret to inform you that no one has a damn clue what the president is up to.
Not Republicans. Not much of his White House. no one.
Some people say Trump is in burn it down mode. Some people say he isn’t going to veto this package.
Who cares, frankly. No one knows what he is doing or what goal he’s driving toward.
Maybe he comes out today en route to FL and says he was kidding about the veto thing -- but maybe not, and he’s not running a corner store, he’s running the world’s most important country in the middle of a pandemic, so we can’t work with maybes.