Tag: Jared Kushner

In a sign of growing unease about the partial government shutdown, some Senate Republicans came off the sidelines to hash out a deal that would reopen the government as Congress worked toward a broader agreement tying wall funds to protection for some undocumented immigrants and other migrants. Vice President Mike Pence and other members of Mr. Trump’s team let it be known privately that the president would not back such a deal. “It kind of fell apart,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who was among those Republicans seeking a deal. “It is time for President Trump to use emergency powers to fund the construction of a border wall/barrier,” he said later in a brief statement. Administration officials are debating whether they could make such a move without the president declaring a national emergency, an action the White House counsel’s office has explored. But Mr. Trump’s advisers, including his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, have urged him to try to find other approaches than declaring a national emergency. “If Congress approves this trade bill, they’ll pay for the wall many times over. “We can declare a national emergency,” Mr. Trump said. Privately, he told Mr. Graham’s group that the president also would not support a proposal that would reopen the government for three weeks while Republicans and Democrats work to hash out a broader legislative deal on the wall and temporary grants of legal status for the two groups. The president is allowed to divert unspent money from projects under a national emergency.

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz says he is making an 'informed guess' about who will be the next White House chief of staff. #OutnumberedOvertime #HarrisFaulkner #FoxNews FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news…

CNN's Don Lemon examines the intense public scrutiny facing individual members of the Trump family. #CNN #News

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders weighs in on looming government shutdown over border security battle. #TheStory #MarthaMacCallum #FoxNews FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and…

President Trump has nominated William P. Barr, who served as attorney general during the first Bush administration from 1991 to 1993, to lead the Justice Department. But Mr. Trump, according to several senior administration officials and people close to him, has so far been unable to bring himself to personally fire a retired four-star military general. The choice of Mr. Barr was well received by Republicans as soon as s it became known that he had emerged as permanent replacement for Mr. “Although an investigation shouldn’t be launched just because a president wants it, the ultimate question is whether the matter warrants investigation.” Mr. Barr added then that he saw more basis for investigating the uranium deal than any supposed conspiracy between Mr. Trump’s associates and Russia. President Trump said he would nominate William P. Barr as attorney general. “I will demand that Mr. Barr make a firm and specific commitment to protect the Mueller investigation, operate independently of the White House, and uphold the rule of law,” Mr. Blumental said in a statement. In 1989, President George Bush appointed him to lead the Justice Department’s powerful Office of Legal Counsel, and later elevated him to deputy attorney general and then attorney general. “The attorney general’s oath to uphold the Constitution raises the question whether his duty lies ultimately with the president who appointed him or more abstractly with the rule of law. I said in my confirmation hearings, and have said several times since, that the attorney general’s ultimate allegiance must be to the rule of law.” John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, is expected to leave the White House in the next few days. The prosecutor took three years to finish that investigation, ultimately concluding that no crime had been committed and that he should not have been appointed.

Corrections reform is the rarified air of politics that seems to have universal appeal. While you can find the details of the bill elsewhere, the process was fascinating. Ingredient #1 - I believe you must start by having a policy that is well thought out, researched and likely to deliver the promised outcomes, and most importantly, solves an identified problem. First Step Act - CHECK Ingredient #3 - Citizens who care about the issue. Unfortunately, recent times have left many citizens feeling undervalued and not represented, but the loud voice of a people united moves even the most unlovable issues. Over the past decade dozens of advocacy groups have formed from multiple perspectives – conservative and progressive, religious, families of the incarcerated, families of and victims/survivors, formerly incarcerated individuals – all of which care about good criminal justice policies. Great to see that in the case of the First Step Act the notion of not letting good be the enemy of great seems to have won over a plurality of this vocal and effective collective. - CHECK Ingredient #6 - Stakeholder group support. - CHECK Ingredient #7 - A “cause celeb.” As much as we hate it, and deny it, celebrity voices move public opinion significantly. John Wetzel is the chair of The Council of State Governments Justice Center, president of the Association of State Correctional Administrators and Secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Corrections.

President Donald Trump (C), New Jersey Gov. Shawn Thew-Pool/Getty Images Jeff Sessions is out as attorney general. Quote of the Day: “I like Chris Christie, but I have not talked to him about it,” — President Donald Trump on selecting a new attorney general Sessions’ Job Is Hard to Fill. Politico Read more Trump Says He Hasn’t Talked to Christie About Attorney General Job President Donald Trump said Friday that he had not talked to former Gov. Chris Christie about succeeding Jeff Sessions as attorney general and that they were “looking at other people.” NJ.com Read more Could Christie Become Attorney General? Here’s What He’s Had to Say About the Russia Investigation Chris Christie is reportedly on President Donald Trump’s short list of people to be the nation’s next attorney general, a job Jersey’s former Republican governor has coveted. Let’s just say we could do better than Chris Christie. Inquirer Read more Election 2018 Is Over. NJ.com Read more Why Did It Take So Long for State to Inspect Facility Where Deadly Outbreak Killed 10 Kids? NJSpotlight Read more ICE Slams NJ County Jail Over Missouri Triple Murder Suspect A Mexican citizen charged in a Missouri triple murder was previously jailed and released in New Jersey on domestic violence charges.

Here are some of the biggest stories you might have missed (and some links if you’d like to read further). _____________________ In tragedy’s aftermath, President Trump returned to campaign mode. [Read the story] It appeared that Mr. Trump, frustrated with an inability to control the news cycle, had begun throwing out new ideas to see what might stick, regardless of the political or legal reality. [Read the story] Additional Reading • News Analysis: For Trump, Dutiful Words of Grief, Then Off to the Next Fight • Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner Shape Trump’s Pittsburgh Response • Inside What Even an Ally Calls Trump’s ‘Reality Distortion Field’ Days before the midterms, Mr. Trump embraced a familiar refrain: Fear immigrants. Mr. Trump pushed a dark anti-immigration message in the last full week before the midterm elections, hoping it would encourage voters to reject Democrats. [Read the story] House Republicans are preparing for a Democratic takeover. In the final days of the campaign, vulnerable Senate Democrats are focusing on health care in their closing arguments — in particular, saving the Affordable Care Act’s safeguards for people with pre-existing conditions. [Read the story] Republican candidates have begun saying that they will protect people with pre-existing conditions, but an analysis from The Upshot finds that their records suggest otherwise. [Read the story] As a result of the Trump administration’s policy changes and auctioning off of millions of dollars in drilling rights, fracking is booming on public lands, according to a New York Times analysis of Interior Department data. [Read the story] Additional Reading • A Guide to the Ryan Zinke Investigations • Where Americans (Mostly) Agree on Climate Change Policies, in Five Maps • Five Midterm Votes That Could Have an Outsize Impact on Climate Change _____________________ Today’s On Politics briefing was compiled by Emily Cochrane in Washington.

Good Wednesday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. _____________________ • President Trump said he was preparing an executive order to end the long-accepted constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship in the United States. Read about his latest immigration-focused maneuver days before the midterms. • Despite Mr. Trump’s proposal, past Supreme Court decisions and constitutional scholars say that the 14th Amendment is clear: Any child born in the United States is automatically a citizen. • The Trump administration is working to salvage rules that allow employers to deny insurance coverage of contraceptives for women based on religious or moral objections. Here’s what the revisions would do. • In an email sent to journalists, a woman said she had been promised money to fabricate sexual misconduct claims against Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel. But men are still making the large majority of political contributions, and male candidates are still raising more money. Check back later for On Politics With Lisa Lerer, a nightly newsletter exploring the people, issues and ideas reshaping the political world.

Good Monday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. • As the world recoils at reports that the Saudis sent agents to Turkey to kill Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident journalist, Mr. Trump has rebuffed pressure to punish the Saudis by canceling arms sales that he secured during a visit last year. Here’s why that approach could put the president on a collision course with Congress. Then came the story about Mr. Khashoggi. Read our media columnist’s take. • Confidential documents reviewed by The Times indicate that Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, probably paid little or no income tax from 2009 to 2016. • Republican candidates across the country are painting Democrats as the ones pursuing an extreme immigration agenda that would fill the country with “sanctuary cities.” The strategy may be working. • Suburban women favor Democrats in the midterms by large margins. Read why.