| | | | This may be the only way the shutdown ends |  | | The government shutdown is nearing the month mark -- today was day 26 -- and there continues to be zero optimism the showdown will resolve itself any time soon.
"I will say this, Democrats in the House and Senate are united," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told CNN after meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday afternoon. "We have three words for President Trump, Mitch McConnell and Leader McCarthy: Open the government. We are all united and we're finding Republicans beginning to join us."
Trump, meanwhile, kept up his Twitter drumbeat; "It is becoming more and more obvious that the Radical Democrats are a Party of open borders and crime," he wrote Wednesday morning. "They want nothing to do with the major Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border. #2020!"
Against this backdrop of rhetorical warfare, the costs of the shutdown continue to not only pile up, but also worsen.
Want to understand how bad have things become? This tweet, from The Washington Post's Bob Costa, should do the trick:
"Couple senior Republican lawmakers tell me the only way this breaks open is if TSA employees stay home and Americans get furious about their flights. That's the only out, they say. And they're close to the WH."
So ... our elected leaders have reached the point where they are semi-openly acknowledging that they are entirely powerless to reopen the government and need a deus ex machina -- people outraged at airport lines -- in order to have any hope of returning things to "normal."
Consider that. We need a totally avoidable -- but likely massive -- crisis in order to generate enough pressure on Washington to actually do something as basic as open the government.
The Point: What an indictment of our current politics, and our ability to comprise -- or even talk.
-- Chris | | "Welcome to life in the New Democratic Majority. Get used to it."
-- New York Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries tweeting that the State of the Union will not go on as scheduled on January 29 if the government stays shut down. | | | THE UNCERTAIN STATE OF THE UNION | | So, a lot has to happen for the State of the Union to go on as scheduled on January 29.
Both the House and Senate need to pass resolutions to actually allow the State of the Union speech to occur on the Hill (and that has not happened yet).
Even if the GOP-controlled Senate passes a resolution green-lighting the State of the Union amid the shutdown, the Nancy Pelosi-controlled House will not.
Pelosi today offered Trump the chance to reschedule the speech should the shutdown continue, OR to go old-school by delivering it in writing.
After initially being abandoned by Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson brought back the tradition of delivering the State of the Union as a speech to Congress in 1913 (a move that shocked official Washington, as The Washington Post wrote at the time). | | | SOAK's first album knocked Chris off his feet a few years back. Her new song suggests her next album is going to be just as good. | |  | | Today's topic: Pelosi pulls a power move on Trump's State of the Union. | | HERE'S SOME ADVICE: NEVER TWEET | | Social media icon Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is schooling her fellow Democrats on Twitter, literally.
New York's youngest congresswoman is co-hosting a session "on the most effective ways to engage constituents on Twitter and the importance of digital storytelling," alongside Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes.
The Thursday morning event is being put on by the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. | | Beto O'Rourke: The former Texas congressman is blogging about running (the physical exercise kind) and alluding to a presidential run amid his solo roadtrip: "Maybe if I get moving, on the road, meet people, learn about what's going on where they live, have some adventure, go where I don't know and I'm not known, it'll clear my head, reset, I'll think new thoughts, break out of the loops I've been stuck in," O'Rourke wrote today. Meanwhile, his team is looking at a potential decentralized, Bernie Sanders-style presidential campaign.
Bernie Sanders: The previous presidential candidate reportedly considering running again met with former campaign staffers about allegations of sexual harassment during his '16 run on Wednesday. Sanders didn't give any details about the meeting, describing it as "private."
John Delaney: The first-to-announce presidential candidate of the 2020 cycle returns to New Hampshire this weekend, per his campaign.
Sherrod Brown: The Ohio senator is kicking off his "Dignity of Work" tour on January 30 and then traveling to Iowa on January 31, with stops in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada also planned. Oh, and he's (pretty clearly) considering a run for president.
Seth Moulton: The Massachusetts congressman, who led a failed coup against Nancy Pelosi, is headed to New Hampshire in early February, his office tells Lauren, and igniting some presidential run speculation. | |
WHEN BEING EVASIVE HAS A PURPOSE | |  | Potential 2020 candidates don't play coy for fun | | | Many potential presidential candidates avoid answering whether they're considering a run. Chris explains why they dodge the question. | |
🚀SPACE FORCE ONSCREEN 🚀 | | The newly created "Space Force" is getting the Hollywood treatment.
Co-creators of "The Office" are launching a workplace comedy "about the people tasked with creating a sixth branch of the armed services: the Space Force," Netflix said today.
We don't know much yet about this series -- it'll be a TBD-number of episodes because the scripts haven't been written yet, according to The Hollywood Reporter -- coming soon on Netflix. | | | | | | |
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