Did I hear the word ‘bipartisan”?
In the last weeks of the Republican control of Congress the party has got the guy who leads them to go back to his hidden ‘Democratic ‘ side?
This IS gonna be interesting and maybe a preview of the next two years as Donald Trump tries to find a way to wiggle a second term?
President Trump threw his support behind long-stalled bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation on Wednesday, kicking off a legislative sprint on Capitol Hill, where obstacles remain to getting the bill to his desk by the end of the year.
Trump formally backed the legislation during a White House event while surrounded by GOP lawmakers, outside groups and son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner. The president said lawmakers had “poured their time” and “heart” into getting an agreement.
“These members have reached a bipartisan agreement … on prison reform legislation. Today I’m thrilled to announce my support,” Trump said. “I urge lawmakers in both House and Senate to work hard and to act quickly and send a final bill to my desk, and I look very much forward to signing it.”
“Today’s announcement shows that true bipartisanship is possible and maybe it will be thriving,” Trump said. “When Republicans and Democrats talk, debate and seek common ground we can achieve breakthroughs that move our country forward and deliver for our citizens.”
Advocates of the bill are in a lobbying frenzy on Capitol Hill to lock down undecided votes. A group of senators led by Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are expected to quickly introduce legislation and Senate GOP leadership has pledged to measure support for the bill.
If Congress can pass criminal justice reform legislation it would mark a significant victory for Grassley and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who have been negotiating for years. Trump announced support for the bill a week after the midterm elections, where Democrats won back enough seats to take control of the House next year.
The Senate deal links the House’s prison reform bill with four sentencing provisions, according to draft legislation and bill summaries viewed by The Hill…..
Note….
Does this mean that Kim Kardashian and Scott Kushner get props for lobbying Trump?
image…pagesixonline…
Not So Fast on Criminal Reform?
A bipartisan criminal justice overhaul backed by President Donald Trump ran into a formidable political obstacle in the Senate on Thursday: Tom Cotton, normally one of the president’s closest allies.
The Arkansas Republican is a longtime critic of the sentencing reform provisions that negotiators added to a less divisive prisons bill, forming the compromise that Trump endorsed this week. But Cotton on Thursday stepped up his public potshots at what he’s called a “jailbreak” proposal — a counter-campaign that one fellow senator believes came at the request of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“We’ve had productive conversations all year long. If in the end we have a principled disagreement on it, then that’s where we’ll end up,” Cotton said of his talks with the president and his allies.
The hawkish Cotton also published an op-ed slamming the compromise and needled Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chief author of the criminal justice compromise, with a push for a public hearing on the legislation — a version of which already has passed Grassley’s committee….
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