Donald Trump may have just Schitt himself
Donald Trump may have “Schitt” himself today. Hours into the 116th Congress, Trump already appears to be going down for the count. Nancy Pelosi won the contest easily for Speaker of the House, and she made history by becoming the first and second woman to be Speaker. She also is one of the few people who has now been Speaker on two occasions, being the sixth. The last to have more than one term, Sam Rayburn, is one of the best. Another, Henry Clay, is known for his body of work as Speaker.
After Pelosi was sworn in, Adam Schiff officially took over the House Intelligence Committee. Let the investigations begin, and they will.
Democrats in the House promised to do their job duties as spelled out by the United States Constitution, and accordingly the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee posted a job advertisement for “an attorney with several years of investigative or litigation experience.”
Representative Steve Cohen introduced two Constitutional amendments this evening, one to end the electoral college, and the other to prevent a president from pardoning himself or his family. For now, those amendments are not likely to go anywhere, but it is a warning to Trump that the game has changed and a new day is afoot.
Lest Trump believe he can blame his government shutdown on the Democrats, that notion too is falling apart. GOP Senators Cory Gardner and Susan Collins are revealing their desire to reopen the government without any fall wall funding, as both are up in 2020. In the House, Trump is not doing much winning on the efforts to reopen government. A six-bill passage with no wall funding passed by a vote of 241-190, with a short-term Homeland Security funding bill passing 239-192, with multiple Republicans voting for each item. Gardner advocated for the passage of the continuing resolution that the Senate had passed just before the shutdown.
Hours into the new Congress and there are cracks in the “Nyet Wall” because Republicans know that pleasing and placating Donald Trump could now come at the expense of the public turning on them and voting them out in two years. Sleep tight, Trumpy, and let the “Dem bugs” bite.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.