MORNING MESSAGE
Americans Like the Resistance a Lot More Than They Like Trump
The
numbers are irrefutable. Trump’s approval rating has sunk to a historically low
42 percent, according to Gallup, yet 60 percent of the public approved of the
women’s marches ... The marchers were also more than twice as popular as the tea
party was when it first appeared ...
"NEVERTHELESS, SHE PERSISTED"
Republicans
try to silence Warren, fail. W. Post: “…Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
(R-Ky.) interrupted Warren’s speech … and said that she had breached Senate
rules by reading past statements against [Jeff] Sessions from figures such as
the late senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and the late Coretta Scott King …
In setting up the votes to rebuke Warren, McConnell specifically cited portions
of a letter that King … wrote … The Senate voted, 49 to 43, strictly on party
lines, to uphold the ruling … Banned from reading King’s letter on the Senate
floor, Warren instead went to a nearby room and read it aloud on Facebook
Live.”
Sessions
vote as early as tonight reports NYT.
Warren
book drops in April. AP: “Warren’s ‘This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle to
Save America’s Middle Class’ will be published April 18 … It will offer a
mini-history of the American middle class…”
Dems PREPARE TO BATTLE ON
Dems
plan to battle more nominees. The Hill quotes Schumer: “We’re going to have
long debates on Sessions and we’re going to have debates on Price.”
Republicans
try to salvage Puzder. Politico: “Republican leaders are intent on pushing
the fast-food executive through, and are preparing finally to schedule his
confirmation hearing after four delays related to problems with his ethics
paperwork. But a number of GOP senators said that before pressing forward, they
want to know more about the latest revelation that Puzder for five years
employed — he says unknowingly — an undocumented immigrant … a prominent
business lobbyist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, ‘Based on past
standards, he has a high hill to climb. … How much more can one take and still
survive?'”
Schumer
unimpressed after meeting Gorsuch. Politico quotes: “When someone doesn’t
answer the most obvious of questions, and questions that demand answers, you
wonder. You really wonder.”
TRAVEL BAN GRILLED
Tough
questioning for travel in appellate court hearing. Bloomberg: “The grilling
of both sides was rapid-fire, with August Flentje, representing the Department
of Justice, facing harsher questioning than his adversary … A decision by the
three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San
Francisco may come this week. The jurists gave no clear sense of how they would
rule … Whatever the ruling, it is almost certain to be appealed to the U.S.
Supreme Court.”
Republican
divide over legal immigration crackdown. Politico: “Republican Sens. Tom
Cotton and David Perdue faced pushback from fellow lawmakers on Tuesday after
rolling out legislation to slash legal immigration … Sen. Lindsey Graham … said
instead of an ‘arbitrary number of green cards,’ he would prefer to see a system
that ‘fluctuates based on the economic needs of our country.’ … ‘I haven’t
looked at it,’ McCain said of the new bill. ‘But I’m not interested in that
legislation.'”
HOUSE DEMS PLOT STRATEGY
House
Dems to assess how much to resist while on retreat. Politico: “The biggest
divide within the caucus is whether to jump headfirst into a four-year,
fist-to-fist brawl with Donald Trump or stay on the current path of frequently
needling the president but holding out for cooperation where possible … Some
Democrats are working quietly to set up meetings with the White House on areas
where they might share common ground, like bringing down the cost of
prescription drugs … House Democrats might yet find some leverage if Republicans
fracture as they have so often in the past and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) must
rely on Pelosi to deliver the votes at a crucial moment.”
Red
state Dems to meet with Trump. Politico: “Democratic Sens. Jon Tester of
Montana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia will
meet with Trump … On Wednesday afternoon ahead of the meeting, Trump is
scheduled to have a legislative affairs strategy session.”
CONSERVATIVE CARBON TAX?
“Republican
Group Calls for Carbon Tax” reports NYT: “The group, led by former Secretary
of State James A. Baker III, with former Secretary of State George P. Shultz and
Henry M. Paulson Jr., a former secretary of the Treasury … would substitute the
carbon tax for the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan … At an initial price
of $40 per ton of carbon dioxide produced, the tax would raise an estimated $200
billion to $300 billion a year, with the rate scheduled to rise over time … the
money raised would be returned to consumers … The proposal would also insulate
fossil fuel companies against possible lawsuits over the damage their products
have caused to the environment.”
Dakota
Access Pipeline moves ahead. The Hill: “The Army Corps of Engineers will
grant the final approval needed to complete the controversial Dakota Access oil
pipeline as soon as Wednesday [and] it will no longer complete an intensive
environmental impact statement … Energy Transfer told the federal judge Monday
that that it could take as little as 60 days to finish the pipeline once it gets
the Army Corps easement … The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe outlined its plans …
saying it would continue litigation against the project…”
REPATRIATION GETS BOOST
Key
Republican embraces repatriation to fund infrastructure. Bloomberg: “‘The
dollars are out there, so we get a piece of that,’ [Rep. Bill] Shuster, a
Pennsylvania Republican who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee … Gary Cohn, Trump’s chief economic adviser, said on Fox Business on
Feb. 3 that the president wants to use proceeds from repatriation to help fund
the improvements … One thing [Shuster] can’t support: creating a federal
infrastructure bank to provide funding for projects…”
Will
Trump’s infrastructure plan help schools? American Prospect’s Rachel Cohen:
“[In] his inaugural address [Trump] talked again about infrastructure spending,
but this time made no mention of school facilities. In fact, Trump actually
argued that America’s education system—as opposed to being starved for
investments—is ‘flush with cash.’ … Unlike the highway and railway lobbies,
school infrastructure advocates don’t have a well-funded institutional presence
on K Street.”
Deficit
hawks worry about Trump’s budget. Politico: “GOP lawmakers are fretting that
Trump’s spending requests, due out in a month or so, will blow a gaping hole in
the federal budget — ballooning the debt and undermining the party’s doctrine of
fiscal discipline … ‘I don’t think you can do infrastructure, raise defense
spending, do a tax cut, keep Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security just as they
are, and balance the budget. It’s just not possible,’ said Rep. Tom Cole
(R-Okla.) … ‘If there is a temporary increase in the deficit to get our economy
growing, I think my fellow Republican members are willing to look at the long
game,’ said Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), a Trump loyalist.”
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