Sunday, December 23, 2018

Mattis reportedly told the commander of the Strategic Command to keep him directly informed of any event that might lead to a nuclear alert being sent to the president. He even told the commander “not to put on a pot of coffee without letting him know.”


Mattis, the noble man in the @realDonaldTrump administration has fallen on his sword in the face of 45’s incompetence. The least noble, @realDonaldTrump , can’t comprehend our loss in his fit of envy. Perhaps now GOP will work with the Democratic House to contain 45.


"It's an issue of his own political insecurity," Dick Durbin said. "When the right-wingers start screaming at him, he just backs off and dissembles in front of us. We've now have reached a depth of dysfunction that I've never seen in Washington."


No mercy. Seek none, you will receive none. #FVEY


Corker: Border wall standoff is a 'made-up fight'


Opinion: From now on, Trump will try to use foreign policy to distract us. It won’t be pretty.


FBI families will spend Christmas without a paycheck. This president promised Mexico would pay for the wall but innocent people are now paying the price for another lie. Our thoughts are with hardworking public servants and their families.


Ethics officials recommended Whitaker recuse himself from the Mueller investigation. He refused. Now any decision he makes is tainted. Attorneys must recuse themselves if there's even an appearance of conflict. Anything less jeopardizes public confidence in the rule of law.


Incoming acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney tells @jonkarl that President Trump "now realizes" that he "does not have the ability" to fire Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell


Sen. Jeff Merkley tells @ThisWeekABC Democrats will not agree to any border wall funding.@jonkarl: "Let me be clear. Democrats are not going to agree to any funding to build new border wall? None?" Merkley: "That's correct. None."


Breaking - our David Martin reports that @realDonaldTrump will order SecDef Mattis to leave his Pentagon post immediately rather than work through the February 28 date he cited in his resignation letter. Deputy Patrick Shanahan to step into role. SAO confirmed.


Good morning.The federal government is shut down. Stock markets are in free fall. Foreign allies are voicing alarm. Russia is cheering.


Oh, great. The Kremlin wants us out of Japan as well. What will Donald do? Putin says U.S. presence in Japan complicates signing of peace treaty


BREAKING: over his disagreement with @realDonaldTrump's abrupt #Syria pullout, special envoy Brett McGurk is accelerating his resignation from the @StateDept,


This @AP account of how Erdogan convinced Trump to pull out of Syria and Bolton, Mattis and Pompeo tried to stop it is downright scary.


NEW: White House floating $2.1 Billion for border wall, significantly lower than Trump’s $5B demands


Every time the Fed raises rates, Trump’s payments on some $340 million in variable-rate loans go up


Someone is feeling super-insecure about foreign policy this evening.


No Israeli official dares to go on the record for fear of making matters worse but it's clear from the reporting that Israel feels betrayed by Trump's Syria decision.


BREAKING: The company owned by a foreign country that is challenging a grand jury subpoena in federal court in DC, and lost its challenge at the DC Circuit, has asked the US Supreme Court to step in. The case is under seal, so we have no additional information at this time.


“Nothing better illustrates the needless stupidity of the shutdown than Mr. Trump’s claim to be taking a stand for border security when one of the agencies being caught up is Customs and Border Protection.”


What's going on in St Marten?

What's going on in St Marten?

Trump tonight tweeted that he doesn't know who Brett McGurk is, the U.S. envoy to the coalition fighting the Islamic State. McGurk has literally been the American leading the fight against ISIS.