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.
IN A STATEMENT, TRUMP said Congress will review Section 230, the statute governing social media companies? Pretty sure they’ve been reviewing it for a while. A “redlined” bill? Huh? He’ll never get the spending rescissions he’s asking for — like, 0 chance, so don’t focus on this
They will review voter fraud? Sure thing, boss. And the Senate will begin the process of voting on $2,000 checks? Great. He will split the Republican Party on the way out the door. (Will it get 60 votes? Will senators even show up for this?)
>@senatemajldr didnt even mention anything about giving anything to Trump in his statement
THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST FITTING coda to TRUMP’S presidency, and a neat encapsulation of his relationship with Congress. He never cared to understand the place and was disengaged from its work.
THEY’LL BE LAUGHING — er, scratching their heads — at your genius about this one for a while, Mr. President.
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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!” …
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.