Why The GOP Government Went Off The Rails, Trump Praises Fox News And How To Drink Wine

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April 3, 2017

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Why Unified Republican Government Went Rapidly Off The Rails

The Gist: Former members of Congress, former congressional staffers, and experts tell TPM that they have never seen anything like the incompetence, distrust, and public airing of grievances that characterize the current relationship between President Trump and a Congress controlled by his own party, and say it is likely to stall the legislative agenda going forward.

Donald Trump Praises Fox News In Early Morning Tweet

The Gist: President Donald Trump was watching “Fox and Friends” on Monday morning, which he signaled by praising the show in a tweet.

Chaffetz On Exec. Branch Vacancies: Trump Has ‘No Intention’ Of Full Staffing

The Gist: The House Oversight Committee chairman said Monday that the Trump administration will likely leave many executive branch positions vacant, because “they have no intention of funding those types of things.”

From The Reporter’s Notebook


Former White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told MSNBC Friday that former President Obama is “genuinely concerned” about how things are going in Washington, D.C., TPM’s Kristin Salaky reported. “There’s a sense of a lot of action and a lot of movement in Washington, D.C., but not a lot of movement forward,” Earnest said. “I think that’s a source of some concern, not just for the former president of the United States but Americans of both parties across the country.”

Agree or Disagree?


Josh Marshall: “Those are steep drops. This is the big danger for Trump – likely a much greater danger, in the short term at least, than the scandal investigations or most of the other things politicos are focusing on. Trump’s inability to repeal Obamacare is, I suspect, most of what is showing up in this drop. He simply failed to do something that, at least in numerical congressional majority terms, should have been simple. That made him seem weak and ineffectual – frankly, silly – which is what will eventually kill Trump with his base if it sets in as a consensus opinion. “

Say What?!


“You know that we didn’t take a vote. I didn’t want to take a vote. It was my idea. I said why should I take a vote.”

– President Donald Trump said in an interview published Sunday that he “didn’t want to take a vote” on the Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, despite demanding one less than 24 hours before the legislation was pulled.

BUZZING: Today in the Hive


From a TPM Prime member: “The Senate cannot change its rules without a supermajority that supports the change. The ‘nuclear option’ invalidates a rule, but does not actually amend the Senate rules. In theory, the Senate could ask for a ruling that would hold its internal rules amendment process to be unconstitutional, although such a ruling would be far more attenuated and political than eliminating the filibuster for the review of Presidential appointments. Some have also suggested that each incoming Senate should have the right to adopt its own rules without regard for the prior set of rules. However, either of those approaches would have much more significant ramifications for the Senate, its order, and its ability to conduct business than the elimination of the filibuster for nomination contests — and you can count on its ultimately being used to strip the minority of any real power except to sit and watch the majority legislate. Given the power that Senators derive from the present rules, notably including the supermajority rules for cloture, such an approach would significantly reduce the influence of Senators even in the majority party; and even leaving that aside, Senators know that their party won’t hold a majority forever.”

Related: Senate Panel To Vote On Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee

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What We’re Reading


The General Theory Of Relative Activeness (Esquire)

How to Drink Wine (The New York Times)

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