Tag: Sen. Schumer

Politically Wounded Trump Complicates Border Talks With Pelosi, Schumer

President Donald Trump arrives back at the White House on Friday evening without taking reporters’ questions. Credit: Mark Wilson, Getty Images file photo

‘When he feels challenged … he pulls back to his base’

Another wild weekend — with federal prosecutors appearing to implicate Donald Trump in a pair of federal crimes and his second chief of staff leaving soon — has only complicated the president’s coming talks with Democratic leaders to avert a partial government shutdown over the holidays.

Trump is scheduled to meet in the Oval Office on Tuesday morning with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer less than two weeks before a deadline to pass legislation to keep the Department of Homeland Security and several other agencies funded and open beyond 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 21.

White House officials on Monday said Trump wants to have a back-and-forth with the Democratic leaders rather than just expressing his demands in a mostly one-way conversation.

Schumer gets ready to go on the offensive

After spending the past two years trying to protect 10 incumbent Democrats in pro-Trump states, the Senate minority leader is ready to put Republicans on the defensive, knowing the GOP will have a tougher electoral map to defend in 2020.

Republicans will have a bigger Senate majority next year — 53 seats compared to 51 seats now — but will also have more seats that Democrats are looking to pick off in the next election cycle.

Schumer has started flexing his muscles in the lame-duck session of Congress. He’s pushing Republicans to add measures such as protecting special counsel Robert Mueller and eliminating a question about citizenship from the U.S. census to a year-end spending package.

He has also dismissed the possibility of reviving an immigration deal he offered to President Trump earlier this year that would fully fund the proposed border wall in exchange for protections for immigrants who came to the country illegally at a young age.

View the complete December 6 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.

Trump’s obstruction backfires as Google searches for “Democratic memo” skyrocket

The following article by Caroline Orr was posted on the Shareblue website February 10, 2018:

The longer Trump drags out his fight to block the Democratic memo, the more people will question why he is trying so hard to conceal it.

Credit:Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post

The White House’s announcement on Friday that it would block the release of a Democratic rebuttal to the GOP memo it declassified last week was met with suspicion, as many lawmakers questioned what Trump may be trying to hide by keeping the memo out of public view.

If Trump is, indeed, trying to hide something, then his plan appears to have backfired spectacularly.

Almost immediately after the White House made its announcement on Friday evening, Google searches for the phrase “Democratic memo” spiked to a new high, reflecting a surge of interest in the topic. Continue reading “Trump’s obstruction backfires as Google searches for “Democratic memo” skyrocket”

Sanctioned Russian spy official met with counterparts in US

The following article by Deb Riechmann of the Associated Press was posted on the Washington Post website January 30, 2018:

Sergey Naryshkin Credit: Wikipedia

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration let a top Russian spy official visit the United States last week for meetings with U.S. intelligence officials even though there are sanctions against him that typically prohibit such visits, officials said Tuesday.

The Russian ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, said on Russian state TV that Sergei Naryshkin, head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, met with his U.S. counterparts about the fight against terrorism.

The visit came less than a week before President Donald Trump decided not to issue any new sanctions against Russian politicians and oligarchs over Russian meddling in the U.S. election.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a frequent critic of Trump’s treatment of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government, said the timing of the trip was suspicious. Continue reading “Sanctioned Russian spy official met with counterparts in US”

Border Wall ‘Off the Table,’ Schumer Says, as Immigration Progress Unravels

The following article by Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Maggie Haberman was posted on the New York Times website January 23, 2018:

<em“The wall offer’s off the table,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday.CreditEric Thayer for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Senate negotiators found themselves back at Square 1 on immigration on Tuesday, as the Senate Democratic leader withdrew the biggest gesture he had made to strike a deal: an offer to fully fund President Trump’s proposed wall at the Mexican border.

“The wall offer’s off the table,” the leader, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, told reporters at the Capitol a day after senators overcame an impasseto end a three-day government shutdown. Continue reading “Border Wall ‘Off the Table,’ Schumer Says, as Immigration Progress Unravels”

‘Negotiating with Jell-O’: How Trump’s shifting positions fueled the rush to a shutdown

The following article y Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey and Ed O’Keefe was posted on the Washington Post website January 20, 2018:

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) faulted President Trump and Senate Republicans for the government shutdown. (U.S. Senate)

In a remarkable, televised 55-minute meeting with about two dozen Democratic and Republican lawmakers earlier this month, President Trump twice proclaimed that any immigration deal would need to be “a bill of love” — setting an optimistic tone for averting a government shutdown with a bipartisan solution.

After the president ordered cameras out of the Cabinet Room that day, the group delved into the details. Kirstjen Nielsen, Trump’s homeland security secretary, and her staff passed out a four-page document on the administration’s “must haves” for any immigration bill — a hard-line list that included $18 billion for Trump’s promised border wall, eliminating the diversity visa lottery program and ending “extended family chain migration,” according to the document, which was obtained by The Washington Post. Continue reading “‘Negotiating with Jell-O’: How Trump’s shifting positions fueled the rush to a shutdown”

Duckworth slams Trump: I won’t be lectured on military needs by a ‘five-deferment draft dodger’

The following article by Brandon Carter was posted on the Hill website January 20, 2018:

Iraq war veteran Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Il.) said she will not be lectured by President Trump, calling him a “five-deferment draft dodger” on Jan. 20.(Reuters)

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) tore into President Trump on the Senate floor Saturday, calling him a “five-deferment draft dodger” and slamming him for his comments toward North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“Does he even know that there are service members who are in harm’s way right now, watching him, looking for their commander in chief to show leadership, rather than [trying] to deflect blame?” Duckworth said. “Or that his own Pentagon says that the short-term funding plans he seems intent on pushing is actually harmful to not just the military, but to our national security?” Continue reading “Duckworth slams Trump: I won’t be lectured on military needs by a ‘five-deferment draft dodger’”

Schumer offered Trump something Democrats hate for something Republicans broadly like

The following article by Philip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website January 20, 2018:

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) faulted President Trump and Senate Republicans for the government shutdown. (U.S. Senate)

When the New York Times first reported it, it seemed unlikely. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) offered President Trump funding for his wall in exchange for protecting immigrants who entered the country illegally as children? The most powerful Democrat in the Senate was willing to support one of his party’s most-hated proposals, just like that? The Times wrote simply that Schumer “discussed the possibility of fully funding the president’s wall on the southern border with Mexico” — which leaves some wiggle room.

On the floor of the Senate on Saturday, though, Schumer explained that it was almost exactly that: A deal on those covered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that would also potentially fund the wall. Continue reading “Schumer offered Trump something Democrats hate for something Republicans broadly like”

Trump and Democrats trade insults to start tense month of negotiations on year-end priorities

The following article by Ed O’Keefe and Sean Sullivan was posted on the Washington Post website November 28, 2017:

The top two Congressional Democrats cancelled a planned meeting on Nov. 28 with President Trump after he said he didn’t think they could reach a budget deal. (Reuters)

President Trump and top lawmakers Tuesday failed to craft the outlines of a spending agreement as Democrats backed out of a planned meeting at the White House amid growing acrimony over a slate of year-end legislative priorities, with a potential government shutdown looming over the negotiations.

The impasse all but ensures another holiday-season standoff over legislation designed to keep the government open and that also is expected to settle complex issues regarding immigration and health care. Continue reading “Trump and Democrats trade insults to start tense month of negotiations on year-end priorities”

Trump’s Tweet Could Raise Odds of Government Shutdown

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Hill website November 28, 2017:

President aims to lessen Democrats’ leverage in year-end talks

President Donald Trump makes a brief statement to the media as Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., left, and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, right, look on, after a meeting with the House Republican Conference in the Capitol to discuss the GOP’s tax reform bill earlier this month. Credit: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

Updated 1:02 p.m. | President Donald Trump raised the odds of a government shutdown next month, tweeting that his differences with Democratic leaders over immigration policy could prevent a deal on a year-end spending package.

The president noted that he was scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon with “‘Chuck and Nancy’ … about keeping government open and working.” He was referring to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer. Also set to attend the White House meeting were House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

But Trump signaled any Democratic efforts to use a shutdown-averting spending measure to make some of their immigration demands law could be a deal-breaker. His signature would be required to make any fiscal 2018 funding bill law. Continue reading “Trump’s Tweet Could Raise Odds of Government Shutdown”