Reign of Pain Update: Trump Offers DACA, Pelosi Rejects

At 4 PM EDT, President Trump gave the expected speech, in which he offered to extend DACA for 3 years and extend the TPS progrgram:

The offer is expected to include Trump’s $5.7 billion demand for wall money in exchange for the BRIDGE Act — which would extend protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) — and also legislation to extend the legal status of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, according to a source with direct knowledge.

Democrats signaled their rejection ahead of time, too. No deal: Pelosi rejects Trump’s offer to legalize Dreamers for wall money. Well, I guess she doesn't really care about all those people being hurt by the shutdown after all:

“It is unlikely that any one of these provisions alone would pass the House, and taken together, they are a non-starter.“

Pelosi rejected the wall and repeated Democratic offers to increase other border security at ports of entry and to boost technology along the border. Some overlapped with the president’s offer, such as money for additional immigration judges and bolstering security at the nation’s ports of entry, where most illegal drugs enter.

Instead, she wants robotic dogs to patrol the border:



Dallas Morning News: Protect Dreamers and build the wall, and we can all win. I guess not. AllahPundit: Is There Any Chance The Senate Would Pass Trump’s New Immigration Compromise?. I presume Trump checked with Cocaine Mitch to see if it was viable in the Senate, but then maybe it's just to opening to more negotiation.

Meanwhile, the mood in Washington D.C. is getting ever more toxic. Politico,  ‘Feel like I’m going to strangle you’: Shutdown breaks Congress’ spirit, LMT Online, citing the WaPoo, Shouting, near fisticuffs, emotions high: Today's Washington could get worse.

AllahPundit: Pelosi: We Were Going To Fly Commercial To Afghanistan — But Trump’s Letter Created A Security Risk

They leaked the commercial travel plans too? To whom? That’s a serious allegation, all but accusing the White House of having deliberately created a security risk to Pelosi to deter him from making it to the region on her own. Who did that? Name names.

A WH official calls it "a flat out lie" that the admin leaked details of Pelosi's commercial travel last night, as her spox claims. There doesn't appear to be evidence that those specific plans were leaked, though Trump did announce the trip and encourage her to fly commercial.

— Sarah Westwood (@sarahcwestwood) January 18, 2019

Da Beast: What Trump Just Wrecked by Canceling Pelosi’s Trip to Afghanistan. Wa Free Be GOP Senators: No Official Travel for Pelosi or Anyone If Budget Deadlines Aren’t Met. I'm good with that.

"During a government shutdown, Congress and the White House should experience pain, not the American people," Lankford added.

Conservative senators had expressed deep concern about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R., Ky.) original plans to let senators leave town next week, when the government shutdown passes the 30-day mark, while the House remains in session and hundreds of thousands of furloughed government workers remain in limbo.

WaEx: Ted Cruz: Pelosi terrified of Trump speaking directly to Americans during State of the Union

“Nancy Pelosi is terrified, number one, of her extreme left-wing base,” Mr. Cruz said Wednesday. “She is captive of them. And number two: The position of congressional Democrats in this shutdown is objectively unreasonable. In 2013, Chuck Schumer and every Senate Democrat voted in favor of 350 miles of border wall. They have right now shut down the government down to stop 234 miles of border wall. I don’t know how you explain why you voted for 350 miles, but you shut the government down to stop 234 miles. That is incoherent.”

Mr. Cruz added that the real reason Democrats want to delay Mr. Trump’s address is because it would allow shutdown analysis to be totally filtered through the mainstream media.

“The State of the Union is an enormous platform for the president to speak directly to the American people,” he said. “She doesn’t want people focusing on the substance of this issue. She wants their information to come from the mainstream media, rather than to come directly from the president.”

I'm no fan of SOTUs in general, but this is probably true, and it partly what today's offer was about.

Meanwhile TSA shows the dedication of gubermint workers. Absences Still High as TSA Predicts Airport Holiday Travel Crush (Bloomberg).

Contrary to reports you'll see in the WaPoo: Farmer Says He’ll Give Trump An Easement To Build The Wall

Some shutdown links from the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.18.19

Animal Magnetism: Rule Five Shutdown “Crisis” Friday, BattleSwarm: Two Essays – Workers v. Elites, Da Tech Guy: Lifson Flashes The President’s Shutdown “Trump” Card, Don Surber: Shutdown Hurts Democrats, So Mueller Leaks, Legal Insurrection: Pelosi Claims White House Leaked Commercial Plans, White House Calls Her A Liar, also, Trump Grounds All Unapproved Congressional Travel On Government Aircraft During Shutdown, Weasel Zippers:  Letter From OMB Adds Insult To Injury For Pelosi, Others Grounded By Government Shutdown