Check out Monday’s newsletter!
|
|
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. “
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
Have something to add? Become a Prime member and join the discussion here.
|
|
