We are in the 28th day of the Trump border wall government shutdown….
The Hill…
President Trump tweeted Friday afternoon that he will be making a “major announcement” Saturday from the White House concerning the ongoing government shutdown, which on Friday entered its 28th day.
The president wrote in a brief message that the announcement would concern the “Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border” and the shutdown.
“I will be making a major announcement concerning the Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border, and the Shutdown, tomorrow afternoon at 3 P.M., live from the @WhiteHouse,” Trump wrote
The message raises the possibility that the president is planning to declare a national emergency to circumvent Congress and win funding for his wall — while ending the partial government shutdown at the same time…
A Virginia-based Salvation Army area command announced Friday that it would cover the electric and gas bills for furloughed federal workers in the state’s eastern region.
Salvation Army Hampton Roads said it will pay the utility bills for federal workers in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Chesapeake, a local ABC affiliatereported.
“Being able to alleviate the burden of a $250 power bill, you know when you’ve got your heat running, an expensive electric or gas bill, and then also being able to simultaneously provide food, that’s several hundreds of dollars worth of financial stress that’s just lifted off of these people’s shoulders,” Melissa Medel, Salvation Army Hampton Roads Marketing and Communications Manager, told Wavy.com….
Politico…
“The White House has a new, long-shot idea for getting President Trump’s border wall: persuading the Senate to take up the president’s wall request to force a deal with the Democrats, then reopen the government,” Politico reports.
“As the government shutdown enters its fifth week, the White House wants the Senate to take up legislation that would provide $5.7 billion for a barrier along the southern border, among other options that have been discussed with GOP leaders. Vice President Mike Pence and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner met Thursday with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and one option batted around was for congressional committees to take up the border request and potentially amend it in committee, all while the government is shutdown, according to a person familiar with the talks.”
“But even Republicans on the Hill recognize the idea is a nonstarter.”
In a confrontation that Donald Trump reads the rightwingnut media, not his own governments briefing ?
Huffington Post…
With no resolution in sight in his fight for a wall on the southern U.S. border, President Donald Trump on Friday morning promoted an unfounded claim from a conservative newspaper purporting that Islamic prayer rugs have been found scattered along the border.
The claim implies that a significant number of Muslims are illegally entering the country through the southern border with Mexico and, taken together with his other comments about the border, that they are dangerous. Although some Muslims do cross the U.S.-Mexico border, numbers are relatively low and past claims about prayer rugs found there have been disproven.
Trump cited The Washington Examiner in his tweet about the supposed rugs. The site published a story on Wednesday featuring a video interview with an unnamed woman who said that although she has never seen Middle Eastern people along the border, she has seen what she described as prayer rugs…..
Breitbart…
Former President George W. Bush and ex-first lady Laura Bush on Friday delivered pizzas to U.S. Secret Service agents, calling on Republicans and Democrats to find a solution to the partial government shutdown.
“@LauraWBush and I are grateful to our Secret Service personnel and the thousands of Federal employees who are working hard for our country without a paycheck,” Bush wrote in an Instagram post, sharing a photo of the delivery. “And we thank our fellow citizens who are supporting them. It’s time for leaders on both sides to put politics aside, come together, and end this shutdown.”…
RedState….
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) isn’t amused by the current blows being exchanged between President Donald Trump and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) over the shutdown.
It all began with Pelosi closed the House to Donald Trump so that he would be unable to give his State of the Union address, citing concerns over security due to the shutdown. As Ted Cruz explained, the real reason is due to the fact that Pelosi wants Trump speaking directly to the people with spectacle as little as possible.
Trump then struck back by revoking Pelosi’s (and the rest of the Democrats) travel via military aircraft, citing the very same shutdown concerns and subtly reminding the Speaker that the USAF follows his orders, not hers. No Brussels trip or Afghanistan photo-op for Pelosi on the taxpayer dime.
While absolutely hilarious, Graham wasn’t as amused as everyone else and lashed out at both sides of the fight on Twitter.
“One sophomoric response does not deserve another. Speaker Pelosi’s threat to cancel the State of the Union is very irresponsible and blatantly political,” tweeted Graham….