It’s Tuesday.
On Tuesday President Trump will hold the annual State of the Union address to Congress that was originally scheduled for January 29th, but after dueling letters between Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and President Trump the event was postponed until after the government shutdown ended.
Monday President Trump tweeted the record low number of only one time.
Monday
1. I am pleased to announce…
President Trump via Twitter announced his intention to nominate David Bernhardt as the next Secretary of Interior.
According to the New York Times, Bernhardt, who was narrowly confirmed to serve as Deputy of the Interior in 2017, faced repeated questions focused on “conflicts of interest,” during his last confirmation hearing.
Bernhardt has been acting Secretary since December 2018 after then-Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke resigned amid several open investigations into his tenure as Interior Secretary.
According to the article if confirmed Bernhardt will “lead a sprawling department that oversees the nation’s nearly 500 million acres of public land, including vast national monuments and protected wilderness areas.”
So far on Tuesday President Trump has tweeted two three times.
Tuesday
1. We will build a Human Wall if necessary…
As has been reported by the News Blender President Trump and some Republicans have dug in on funding the border wall. This fight resulted in the longest government shutdown in U.S. history with the Coast Guard, among others missing two pay checks.
35 days after the government was shutdown due to lack of approved funding for the border wall, President Trump finally agreed to re-open the government signing a short-term deal that created a bi-partisan committee that would work securing the funding for the wall, the short-term spending measure did not include funding for the wall. The short-term spending bill expires on the 15th of February.
During the shutdown President Trump floated the idea of declaring a national emergency giving President Trump the ability to go around Congress and fund and build the border wall. This move if/when it comes is likely to face many court battles challenging the move.
The emergency declaration as The New York Times reported, is not only facing the possibility of court challenges, but also challenges on the Hill, according to the article Republican aides have estimated “that between three and 10 Republicans would side with,” Senate Democrats, if Congress led by Speaker Pelosi managed to pass a “resolution of disapproval, blocking him from using existing funding to build the wall.”
White House Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway spoke to reporters this morning ahead of the Union explaining that he intends to call for compromise with the Democrats and Unity, and also maintains that President Trump has the “absolute right” if he were to declare an emergency.
Senator Lindsey Graham spoke in South Carolina on Monday night, where he told his fellow Republicans via CNN “if you don’t stand behind this President, we will not stand behind you when it comes to the wall.” That the same event he explained he feels there “could be a war within the Republican party over the Wall.”
2. Too bad we weren’t given more credit for the Senate win by the media!
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer appeared on the Senate floor ahead of the State of the Union and criticized President Trump and his policies that Schumer believes hurt the American people.
As a reminder: President Trump is expected to call for unity during his State of the Union address.
For What It’s Worth: In 2018 during the midterm elections the Republicans lost the House majority, they maintained they Senate Majority, gaining 2 seats, giving them 53 seats, while the Democrats have 47. As The New York Times reported there were 23 Democrats not up for election, while there were 42 Republicans not up for election.
Looking ahead to 2020: 270 to Win notes that in 2020 There are 34 seats at stake in the Senate, which includes the special election in Arizona to fill Senator John McCain’s seat, 22 of those seats belong to Republicans.
3. Melania and I send our greetings to those celebrating the Lunar New Year.
For fun: Please for those on Twitter take a minute and vote in Lenny Polls and don’t forget to re-tweet!
To find out your Chinese Zodiac @ China Highlights.com
This post will be updated within reason as the President continues to tweet.
Programming note: The State of the Union will be carried live at the News Blender.
