Idiocracy

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. …

CNBC reports: If the government shutdown lasts another two weeks, the total cost to the U.S. economy would exceed the price of building the proposed border wall. According to an estimate by S&P Global, it will only take another two weeks to cost the economy more than $6 billion, exceeding the $5.7 billion that President Donald Trump demanded to fund …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The White House has asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to look into projects approved in a bill providing disaster relief for Puerto Rico, Texas, California and Florida to see where funding could be diverted to build a wall along the border with Mexico, according to a congressional aide familiar the discussions. Almost three …

But first a fact check from the Associated Press: With the deceptive use of a video, President Donald Trump on Thursday heartily thanked his White House predecessor for supporting his policy at the Mexican border. Barack Obama has offered no such support; only criticism. Obama’s remarks in the short video clip do not support Trump’s proposal for a border wall …

The Hill reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Thursday said President Trump should declare a national emergency so he could build the U.S.-Mexico border wall after last-ditch negotiations in the Senate fell apart. “It is time for President Trump to use emergency powers to fund the construction of a border wall/barrier. I hope it works,” Graham said in a statement. …

Axios reports: In a briefing with Capitol Hill reporters Thursday afternoon, Vice President Mike Pence made it clear that the Trump administration won’t give in on wall funding, but said that Trump “has made no decision” as to whether he’ll declare a national emergency. He also suggested that the administration does not want to trade DACA protections for wall funding. …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump is back on Twitter, this time disputing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer‘s account of how their meeting together fell apart yesterday. Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Congressional Democrats journeyed to the White House yesterday for a new round of discussions about the government shutdown over Trump’s demand for a border wall. After negotiations …

NBC News reports: The ongoing federal government shutdown has stopped most food safety inspections, but the Food and Drug Administration is planning to resume at least some of them. To do it, the agency will have to force furloughed workers to come back without pay. FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said he is trying to pinpoint the most essential inspections, …

The Washington Post reports: Employees of the U.S. Coast Guard who are facing a long U.S. government shutdown just received a suggestion: To get by without pay, consider holding a garage sale, babysitting, dog-walking or serving as a “mystery shopper.” The suggestions were part of a five-page tip sheet published by the Coast Guard Support Program, an employee-assistance arm of …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Wednesday dismissed his meeting with Democratic leaders to negotiate an end to a partial government shutdown as a “total waste of time.” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters outside the White House that Trump “just walked out of the meeting.” The gathering lasted for roughly a half hour. The president met with …

The Washington Post reports: The National Treasury Employees Union became the second federal employees’ union to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the shutdown. Tuesday’s collective action alleges more than 400,000 federal employees — including tens of thousands of NTEU members — are being forced to work without pay during the partial government closure. The complaint asked that …

Market Watch reports: Donald Trump’s loose grip on the truth just cost one gambling site dearly. Before the president’s address on border security Tuesday night, Bookmaker.eu put the over/under on the number of lies he’d spew at 3.5. For bettors, it was a no-brainer, as hundreds of thousands of dollars loaded up on the over. In fact, Bookmaker odds consultant …

USA Today reports: President Donald Trump said in a Wednesday tweet that he is cutting off federal money to fight California wildfires, claiming the money is being wasted. State officials have accused Trump of playing politics with the California wildfires, and said he does not understand the issues involved in fighting fires. Trump’s declaration comes as he takes political heat …

The New York Times reports: In taking his argument to a national television audience and on a trip to the Texas border he plans to take on Thursday, Mr. Trump hoped to reframe the debate. Yet privately, Mr. Trump dismissed his own new strategy as pointless. In an off-the-record lunch with television anchors hours before the address, he made clear …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump will declare to an American television audience Tuesday there is a crisis at the US southern border and that a wall is the best and only remedy — an exceptional step, at odds with facts, to fulfill his central campaign promise. After weeks of a partial government shutdown, Trump and his negotiators have made little …

Reuters reports: The White House got a first hand look — or maybe, smell — of the partial government shutdown’s impact Tuesday, thanks to a shipment of trash from California. Reps. Jackie Speier, D-California, and Jared Huffman, D-California, picked up trash at Lands End and Ocean Beach with the group San Francisco Dog Owners over the weekend. Those are two …

The Washington Examiner reports: White House press secretary Sarah Sanders made an “unfortunate misstatement” about border security, her colleague Kellyanne Conway said Monday. Sanders was fact-checked by “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace on Sunday about her claim that about 4,000 known or suspected terrorists have been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border. Government figures show in fiscal 2017 most of …

Mediaite reports: “How can his word be trusted when he has said so many things that are not true?” ABC’s Jon Karl asked. “How can the American people trust the president when he says this is a crisis, when he says things over and over again that aren’t true?” “The American people aren’t as concerned about the political debate as …

Talking Points Memo reports: President Trump will visit the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Monday. The government shutdown has dragged on over Trump’s insistence on more than $5 billion for a border wall. No end to the shutdown before then, apparently. President @realDonaldTrump will travel to the Southern border on Thursday to meet …

Mediaite reports: President Trump appears to be upset with media outlets for not covering a recent and glowing jobs report to the degree that he would prefer. In a vacuum of news, this would certainly get more attention than it has, but the nation is currently in day 17 of a government shutdown over a significant political impasse over Trump’s …