Trump touts shutdown as motivation for 2018 GOP wins

After a late night of unproductive talks, Congress reconvened Saturday morning to continue negotiations to end the government shutdown. Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said Friday he believes there is a “really good chance” the matter will be resolved by Monday, but many lawmakers’ remarks were not so optimistic. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) accused Senate Democrats of “holding government funding hostage,” while House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the shutdown should be blamed on President Trump’s “confrontation and chaos.” Trump himself resumed his early tweeting spree to again claim “Democrats are holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration.”

Source: The Washington Post,BBC News

President Trump responded to news of the government shutdown on Twitter early Saturday, blaming congressional failure to pass a spending deal on Democrats, whom he said “are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border.” Senate Democrats have insisted the spending bill address the fate of Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which protects immigrants illegally brought to the U.S. as children. Trump linked the shutdown to the 2018 midterm elections, arguing that a 60-vote Senate majority would allow Republicans to “be even tougher on Crime (and Border), and even better to our Military & Veterans!” He closed his arguments with an all-caps tweet of “#AMERICA FIRST!”

Source: Reuters,The Hill

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) ended Senate negotiations around 1:30 a.m. Saturday after no deal was reached to avert a government shutdown, proposing a three-week temporary spending bill to re-open the government through Feb. 8 while talks continue. Senate Democrats already rejected a similar four-week proposal and many not support the condensed timeline. However, Republican Sens. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) told reporters on their way home for the night that they secured McConnell’s agreement for a vote with “an open amendment process” on Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) by the same Feb. 8 deadline. DACA is primary among Democrats’ demands in the spending talks.

Source: The Washington Examiner,The Hill

Federal prosecutors on Friday announced felony charges against Rene Boucher, the man accused of brutally attacking his neighbor, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), in November. Boucher’s alleged assault was primarily motivated by anger over Paul stacking a pile of trimmed branches and other brush, officials said. The stack was on Paul’s land, but close to Boucher’s property line. Paul was surprised by the attack because he was wearing headphones, and he suffered five fractured ribs, pleural effusion, and pneumonia. Boucher faces up to a decade in prison.

Source: CNN,NBC News

After completing an autopsy, the coroner’s office in Los Angeles concluded rock legend Tom Petty’s October death resulted from an accidental drug overdose. Petty was found to have fentanyl, oxycodone, temazepam, alprazolam, citalopram, acetylfentanyl, and despropionyl fentanyl in his system when he died. “Unfortunately Tom’s body suffered from many serious ailments including emphysema, knee problems, and most significantly a fractured hip” for which he was prescribed strong painkillers, his family said, expressing hope that the coroner’s report could “spark a further discussion on the opioid crisis” and perhaps “save lives.”

Source: NBC News,The Associated Press