Tag: Kirsten Gillibrand

From the border wall fight to conflict with Iran, it’s been a busy week in American politics. ___________________ Trump declares national emergency to build border wall House and Senate negotiators agreed “in principle” on Monday to provide $1.375 billion for physical barriers at the southwestern border. The deal provided much less funding than the proposal President Trump rejected in December, and his border wall took a back seat in Congress’s budget negotiations, which instead focused on the record number of immigrants in detention. (Here are five takeaways from the deal.) On the Republican end, former Gov. Bill Weld of Massachusetts announced on Friday his intention to challenge Mr. Trump for the Republican Party’s 2020 nomination. There are six women in the 2020 race, but Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York is the only one who has been making feminism the central theme of her candidacy. While the United States and Israel have accused Iran of instigating terrorism in the Middle East, Iran itself has also been the target of terrorist attacks. Ms. Witt was charged with spying for Iran; ex-officials say her defection severely damaged United States intelligence efforts. Additional Reading • Trump Pushes Iraq to Stop Buying Energy From Iran • Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq • Mike Pence Lashes European Allies for Their Stance on Iran Here’s what else happened this week: • Federal prosecutors recommended Friday that Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, serve up to 25 years in prison and pay up to $25 million in fines for a fraud scheme.

Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. _____________________ • President Trump declared that he was “not happy” about the bipartisan compromise on border security, but said he did not think the government would shut down on Friday. The deal includes just $1.375 billion for new fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, much less than in the proposal he rejected in December. Here are five takeaways. • A number of women are running for president, but Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York is the only one making feminism the central theme of her candidacy. • A government audit found that because of the recent shutdown, fewer taxpayer calls to the Internal Revenue Service were answered, wait times grew longer and the processing of 87,000 amended tax returns was delayed. The issue was especially acute since it followed Mr. Trump’s tax overhaul, which left many people with questions about filing their returns. • Tens of thousands of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan were exposed to toxic substances from open-air trash fires, which some believe caused long-term health problems. • The acting defense secretary, Patrick M. Shanahan, arrived in Baghdad for an unannounced visit, amid questions about whether some of the American troops slated for withdrawal from Syria might be sent to Iraq. He said that if the two countries were close to a deal, he could let the issue “slide for a little while” and not impose higher tariffs on Chinese goods.

Good Tuesday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. The deal, which would stave off another partial government shutdown, appears to be a significant victory for Democrats. It still must pass the House and Senate, and secure the president’s signature. In a bit of political theater, Beto O’Rourke was holding his own rally less than a mile away. • Critics called Hillary Clinton “shrill” and “unlikable” in 2016. It’s no coincidence that the same words are being used against Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris as they campaign for the 2020 Democratic nomination. Here’s how sexism plays out on the campaign trail. • Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota apologized for insinuating that American support for Israel is fueled by money from a pro-Israel lobby group — a comment that drew condemnation from fellow Democrats. • Cliff Sims, the former White House communications aide who wrote an insider account about working for Mr. Trump, is suing the president in his official capacity, alleging that he used his campaign organization to keep former employees from invoking their First Amendment rights.

"The money in politics is corrupting. And that's why, as a very small first step, I'm not taking corporate PAC money." Small as it is, this pledge to reject corporate PAC money has become a cornerstone of the Democrats' primary contest. "Every [Democratic] candidate who has announced that they are running for president has said that they will not take any corporate PAC money," said Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United, a political action committee that's been leading the charge against corporate PACs. Case in point: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was the leading recipient of PAC money in the 2016 presidential contest. Corporate PACs, of course, don't appreciate the symbolism. The candidates' commitments go well beyond refusing corporate PAC money. Warren and Castro say they won't take funds from any PAC, apparently shutting out PACs representing unions, environmental groups and other progressive stalwarts. That's hard to control, though, because superPACs by law cannot coordinate with candidates. In effect, they're moving beyond traditional fundraising — the business of combing Rolodexes to build big-dollar fundraising networks — and branding themselves to court the grassroots donors who give small contributions online.

(CNN)Imagine this: A 46-year-old former congresswoman and mother of three, who just lost a Senate bid to one of the most despised incumbents, sets off on a road trip adventure to clear her head. And then she writes a stream of consciousness diary entry, where she is all in her sad and confused feelings, over ... something: Have been stuck lately. In and out of a funk. My last day of work was January 2nd. It's been more than twenty years since I was last not working. A thick all encompassing blanket. But since I came in at night and left in a fog, I had no idea what the town really looked like. And we've seen how they think they must run -- as serious, surefooted, policy experts with big ideas. His privilege even allows him to turn a loss to the most despised candidate of the cycle into a launching pad for a White House run. But the fact that he knows he has the freedom to cast about as a campaign-in-waiting forms, shows how much of his political identity is predicated on being white and male.

Once, the President's uncanny sense for weakness in others helped him destroy the deepest Republican primary field in history. "It's very important that anyone who presents themselves as a leader and wants to be a leader will speak like a leader," Harris said, not mentioning the President by name but leaving no doubt about her target. But Trump was told during the shutdown last week by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a blatant demonstration of Washington's new power dynamics, not to show up. He will get to give his big speech next week -- but the President's shutdown cave on Friday means he will not be quite so feared when he finally steps up in the House of Representatives. For the last two years, Trump has been the undisputed star of the reality show with which he's replaced conventional Washington politics. Harris is not the only Democratic presidential candidate to test out campaign themes that could exploit the fervor in their party to oust Trump, and could be used against the President in a head-to-head clash. And the possibility that Trump could be vulnerable in his re-election year is attracting interest outside the Democratic Party. All of this is a sign that Trump may need to go back to where he performs best -- the campaign trail -- where he can sharpen his counterattacks and try to lure his rivals into bottom-of-the-barrel fights in which he has no political equal. His testimony in public before another House committee, from which he backed away last week, fearing for the security of his family, might also be back on, according to his new lawyer Michael Monico. On Monday, it was as if Trump's West Wing sensed an urgent need for a show of force, as Washington digests the aftermath of the 35-day shutdown, which ended with the President as far away as ever from getting his border wall.

But last Thursday Mrs. Pelosi wrote the president, discouraging him from accepting her Jan. 3 invitation to address the nation from the House chamber next Tuesday. She cited “security concerns” and suggested the Secret Service could not protect the president if he trekked up to Capitol Hill. This kind of thing gives a bad name to pettiness. Then there are the Democrats who’ve jumped into their party’s presidential contest in the past four weeks. None did so with a traditional speech outlining an agenda and governing vision. On Jan. 15, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, 52, described herself as a “young mom” as she broke the news about her presidential exploratory committee on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Not to be outdone, Sen. Kamala Harris joined the race last Monday with a segment on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” bookended by news of Prince Philip’s auto accident and a United airplane stuck on a remote Canadian runway in subzero temperatures. Warren, Harris and Gillibrand got instant coverage of their announcements. Ms. Harris appeared in a video dancing to Cardi B’s “I Like It.” Really? Unfortunately, social media’s propensity for shallow, rapid-fire and often error-riddled commentary could also turn politics into even more of a reality show than it already is. I will cheer them along when they do, regardless of party, and I’m guessing plenty of other Americans will do the same.

Senator Gillibrand has created an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for a Presidential campaign, and has kicked off that campaign (or that groundwork-laying at least) with a trip to Iowa.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A record-breaking number of women plan to run for president in 2020. Democratic Senator Kamala Harris of California made her formal announcement on Good Morning America Monday. Councilwoman Carol Berz says she thinks the current political and social environments have sparked women's interest in public office. Movements, like The Women's March, continue to dominate the headlines, but Berz says it takes more than marching to make women to run. Serving on Chattanooga's City Council for more than a decade, Berz says she understands why more women now are answering the call to public service. "I think its economy of scale, I think it's equity in business, I think it's education - I think it’s all sorts of things. I think the thing we need to realize is these aren't Republican or Democratic issues. Those who were some the first to see women step into our community's leadership roles, like Marie Hurley Blair, daughter of Mai Bell Hurley, Chattanooga's first female elected to city government, say the key to success as a woman in politics is standing your ground. "She had self-doubt at times, but I think she really was very much a big fixer person and had such a strong belief in the potential of what Chattanooga could become and was a part of that at every step,” said Blair. Councilwoman Berz expects, if the momentum continues, even more women will sit in the commission chambers and even in the Oval Office.

With the 2020 presidential election already underway, 57 percent of registered voters said they would definitely vote against President Donald Trump, according to the latest poll from the PBS NewsHour, NPR and Marist. Another 30 percent of voters said they would cast their ballot to support Trump, and an additional 13 percent said they had no idea who would get their vote. According to the poll, 29 percent of Republicans and conservative-leaning Independents said they felt favorable about Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee. Voters’ preferences are no less clear in the Democratic primary field, which is growing quickly ahead of the party’s first primary debates this summer. The early stage of the Democratic primaries comes as Trump awaits the conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and faces a new challenge from the Democratic-controlled House. The partial government shutdown — now in its 27th day and the longest in U.S. history — hasn’t helped. Fifty-seven percent of respondents believe that, overall as president, Trump is not doing enough to work with congressional Democrats, this latest poll suggests. With neither side yielding, nearly two-thirds of Americans admire elected officials who are willing to compromise despite disagreements with others, a slight uptick from April 2017, when 58 percent of U.S. adults said they felt that way. “What we’re seeing in each of these questions is a sense that compromise is desired and both sides should be working more with the other,” Miringoff said. And a bigger segment of Republicans said they want elected officials who don’t waver, compared to Democrats and Independents.