Douchebaggery

Yesterday a self-avowed white supremacist Trump supporter was arrested in a terror plot to murder leading Democrats and journalists that Trump has singled out for abuse. The would-be killer’s hit list even included the name “poco warren” – a clear reference to Trump’s abusive “Pocahantas”  nickname for Sen. Elizabeth Warren. But rather than posting a tweet congratulating law enforcement for …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Trump administration said Tuesday it would cancel almost $1 billion in funding for the California high-speed rail network, casting doubt on whether the state will be able to complete even the first phase of the troubled project. In a letter to state officials, Federal Railroad Administrator Ronald Batory said the administration is planning to …

The Associated Press reports: Inside the West Wing and in conversations with outside allies, Trump has been workshopping new attempts to imprint his new adversaries with lasting labels, according to two people on whom the president has tested out the nicknames. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations with the president. He is also testing out lines …

The Orange County Register reports: A Disneyland visitor was ejected from the park Wednesday afternoon after he unfurled a large banner on the side of the Mark Twain riverboat that proclaimed “TRUMP 2020.” The guest, who identified himself on Facebook as Dion Cini, live-streamed the event on his Facebook page, reporting that he was expecting to be removed afterward. Disney …

CBS News reports: The civil rights group Wyoming Equality accused Wyoming Sen. Lynn Hutchings of comparing homosexuality to bestiality and pedophilia in a meeting last week with LGBTQ youth, according to an informal complaint made public by the organization. The advocacy group posted the complaint Friday afternoon on its website. It also posted a link to the complaint on its …

USA Today reports: Sen. Elizabeth Warren formally announced her candidacy for the White House on Saturday, and hours later President Donald Trump weighed in on his newest campaign opponent, appearing to make a joke with reference to the Trail of Tears. The president’s use of the word trail in all caps is a potential reference to the Trail of Tears, …

Mediaite reports: Manuel Oliver, the father of a child who was slain during the Parkland massacre, repeatedly confronted Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) during a hearing, and Gaetz tried to have Oliver ejected. During a House hearing on HR8, which expanded background checks to include all firearms purchases, Gaetz used the occasion to promote Trump’s border wall by suggesting that immigrants …

The Hill reports: President Trump’s top economic advisor on Thursday said federal employees were “volunteering” to work amid the partial government shutdown in part because of their “allegiance to President Trump.” “They honor us and they do it because of their love for their country and the office of the presidency and presumably their allegiance to President Trump,” National Economic …

From McConnell’s interview with New York Times Magazine: When I asked McConnell how he felt about his legacy and Trump’s being so closely linked, he rejected the premise. “I don’t think so,” he said. “I think the most consequential call I made was before President Trump came to office.” I asked what he meant. “The decision not to fill the …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Trump re-election campaign on Friday planned to launch a website called Build the Border Wall that asks supporters to donate $20.20. In exchange, the campaign will mail “red faux bricks” to the congressional offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.). An email the campaign plans …

The Hill reports: President Trump slammed Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for planning to leave the country on a congressional delegation during the government shutdown. He also needled the Speaker for taking donations from California’s wine country, writing that workers would still have access to come work there even after a wall is built on the border. The tweet came a …

The BBC reports: Mr Trump’s cancellation of the trip emerged barely half an hour before the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives was scheduled to leave on Thursday afternoon. A White House official told US media the president was able to halt the foreign trip by Mrs Pelosi and a congressional delegation because they were set to use military …

Politico reports: President Trump on Thursday said he is canceling Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s planned international travel in response to her request to postpone the State of the Union address due to the government shutdown. In a letter to Pelosi, Trump told her a congressional delegation trip she intended to take to Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan “has been postponed.” The president …

Politico reports: President Trump on Monday shared an op-ed from a writer claiming to be an anonymous senior member of his administration who harshly criticizes federal workers as disloyal to the White House and worthy of losing their jobs. The writer of the op-ed, headlined “I’m a Senior Trump Official and I Hope a Long Shutdown Smokes out the Resistance,” …

The Hill reports: White House chief economic adviser Kevin Hassett said furloughed workers are “better off” because they didn’t have to use vacation days over the holidays due to the government shutdown. Hassett told PBS during an appearance on “NewsHour” that the timing of the shutdown coming during the holidays allowed furloughed workers to avoid having to use vacation days. …

The Week reports: A federal judge in Texas ruled Friday night that the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare, must be “invalidated in whole” because its individual mandate provision is unconstitutional. District Judge Reed O’Connor argued the mandate is “essential to and inseverable from the remainder of the ACA,” and that it cannot “be fairly read as an …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: In an exchange with high school students that was caught on tape, a Republican congressman from New Jersey was tongue-tied over the prospect of same-sex couples adopting children and suggested kids would be better off in orphanages than with LGBT families. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) made the remarks May 29 when addressing student …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump on Friday said he “fell asleep” watching Barack Obama tear into him during a rare public speech that framed Trump as a threat to democracy. “I’m sorry I watched it, but I fell asleep,” Trump said, during his own speech in North Dakota. Trump added that he was not amused by Obama‘s taking credit for …

The Daily Beast reports: The flag at the White House was raised back to full-staff Monday morning, just hours after it had been briefly lowered to recognize the death of John McCain. The move breaks with a tradition that has normally seen sitting senators who die in office have flags lowered until burial — as well as the extraordinarily public …

Arizona Central reports: Kelli Ward suggested Saturday that the statement issued Friday by U.S. Sen. John McCain’s family about ending treatment for brain cancer was intended to hurt her U.S. Senate campaign. McCain died Saturday hours after her remarks. Ward, a conservative former state senator from Lake Havasu City, is in a three-way race for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination …