| | | | | President Trump walks into the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room with members of the National Border Patrol Council to talk about border security Thursday. Credit: Jabin Botsford/the Washington Post via Getty Images | | | Fashion Played a Part: There were lewks
The Bible Wasn't the Only Book New Members Swore In On: Congress is less Christian than it used to be
Three Pelosi Priorities to Watch: What she said in her speech Thursday | | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump today once again hosts Congressional leadership at the White House to try to hash out a solution to the shutdown.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
The shutdown is now in its 14th day.
Mark your calendars for the State of the Union, which will be delivered on January 29th this year.
(Today is also the 40th consecutive day the President has not played a round of golf -- his longest stretch since taking office.)
A Meeting to Have a Meeting:
According to aides on both sides of the aisle, not a lot is expected of today's 11:30 meeting in the White House Situation Room; it's likely the shutdown will continue. Now-Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been very forthright in saying funding for a wall won't happen -- she has also said a wall is fundamentally "immoral" to the principles of America. Trump, for his part, has said he won't reopen the government until there is funding for his border security plan, which includes a wall. Vice President Mike Pence last night on Fox News doubled-down, saying, "Bottom line, if there's no wall, there's no deal."
CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports the President would like to speak to the country from the Rose Garden this afternoon about the shutdown status -- of course, pending the outcome of the meeting.
Dear Congress:
Trump released a letter to Congress about why he thinks we need border funding literally as leadership was arriving to the White House for the meeting. A snippet: "Walls work. That's why rich, powerful, and successful people build them around their homes." Ah, ok. | | A Briefing that Wasn't a Briefing:
The White House press corps was hastily summoned to the briefing room yesterday afternoon for a "briefing" with Sarah Sanders, as it was advertised. But it turned out to be the President taking the podium there for the first time, and not actually a briefing at all. Betsy Klein has a great, feature-y take on what happened, how it happened and why.
On the Plus Side, America, Jobs Are Up:
Higher than expected jobs numbers were released this morning, noting the economy added 312,000 jobs in the month of December, with unemployment getting a bump to 3.9%. Those positive numbers had an impact (much needed!) on Wall Street, settling down a diving Dow, and pushing it up 500 points. All told, 2.6 million new jobs were added in 2018, up from 2.1 million the year before.
What Trump is Thinking:
Dear Universe ... | | Credit: @realDonaldTrump/Twitter
Fashion Played a Part:
This is one of those times where even the people who write me "who cares what they wore?" hate tweets have to admit that there was a style component to yesterday's start of the 116th Congress. There were lewks, as the kids say. If you don't agree with me, thankfully Robin Givhan (my favorite fashion writer and the only fashion journalist to have ever won a Pulitzer Prize) does. She wrote a great analysis on the women who really wore their personalities, so to speak. It's worth a read today if you find the time. Still, there were some members who were predictably predictable, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who for her swearing-in wore the blue version of the $850 Nina McLemore jacket she wears ALL THE TIME. And shout-out to Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, who almost always wears some sort of cowboy hat, but yesterday went with one made of fur ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. | | Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
A Whole New Industry:
I walked by the new(ish) brick-and-mortar retail store of The Outrage the other day and it was packed -- like, filled with people. The Outrage is probably all the rage right now because it carries t-shirts and products with Resist-friendly slogans and up-with-women designs, and portions of each purchase go toward "progressive organizations," according to its website. I predict this retail space of clever, motivational and clique-ish items will be one of the fastest-growing components of fashion during the Trump administration, because women feel like expressing their solidarity these days, and there are some interesting creatives making things that suit that ilk. Resistance By Design got a lot of play and exposure yesterday when it delivered its "Herwave 2018" scarf to members around Congress. The illustrations were done by one of the company's partners, Alex Posen, who (fun fact!) is the sister of fashion designer Zac Posen, an active Hillary Clinton supporter and one of the most vocal designers to say he won't dress Melania Trump. Here's the t-shirt and scarf, $55 and $125, respectively. | | Credit: resistancebydesign.com
And here's Sen. Amy Klobuchar yesterday looking for her face on the scarf. Klobuchar is a likely 2020 presidential candidate. | | What Washington is Talking About:
House Democrats introduced H.R. 1, the For the People Act, which includes voting rights provisions, ethics reforms, and a requirement forcing presidential candidates to release 10 years of tax returns; and some Democrats are already talking impeachment. Rep. Brad Sherman said he plans to reintroduce articles of impeachment, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib said at an event "we're gonna go in and impeach the motherf***er."
What America is Talking About:
Ellen DeGeneres is campaigning to get Kevin Hart's Oscars-hosting gig back for him; and the driver in a three-county car chase that was wild, even by L.A. standards, has been arrested.
Scenes from the First Day of the 116th Congress:
I put together some images from the first day in a gallery you can look at here. Speaker Pelosi was sworn in while surrounded by her grandchildren and other kids she invited up onto the rostrum, and Rep. Tlaib's son was this year's dabber (it might not yet carry the weight of the ceremonial first-day gavel, but like it or not, dabbing is becoming an opening day of Congress tradition).
Other notes from the day: Ted Cruz still hasn't shaved, many women wore white to honor suffragettes and other female trailblazers in politics, and celebrity guests included Tim Gunn, and Tony Bennett, who attended as a guest of Pelosi.
The Bible Wasn't the Only Book New Members Swore In On:
The 116th Congress is more religiously diverse than its predecessor. The percentage of Christians has fallen slightly from 91% to 88%, and there are four more Jews and one more Muslim. Here's the breakdown by faith, provided by Pew using CQ Roll Call data: | | Credit: Pew
The religious diversity was evident in the books new members swore in on, like Tlaib, who used Thomas Jefferson's English translation of the Quran. Here's a shot of just some of the books used: | | Credit: Chris Turner/CNN
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema used a law book that included the US and Arizona Constitutions, Sen. Martha McSally used a Bible recovered from the USS Arizona, and Sen. Mitt Romney used a Bible his father, a former Michigan governor and presidential candidate, used to take his oaths of office.
Three Pelosi Priorities to Watch:
In her speech yesterday, Pelosi quoted Aristotle and Ronald Reagan and called the swearing in a "sacred ritual" and renewal of "our great American experiment." She also laid out some policy priorities. Though Pelosi touched on a number of issues, these are three emphasized near the top of her remarks that are ones to watch: - Oversight over the executive branch: "Two months ago, the American people spoke, and demanded a new dawn.They called upon the beauty of our Constitution: our system of checks and balances that protects our democracy."
- Combating income inequality: "Let us declare that we will call upon the bold thinking needed to address the disparity of income in America – which is at the root of the crisis of confidence felt by so many Americans."
- Combating climate change: "We must also face the existential threat of our time: the climate crisis – a crisis manifested in natural disasters of epic proportions."
Street Art Sighting:
Pelosi could face pressure from her left during this Congress, something projection artist AE Marling alluded to in his projection of her on the San Francisco Federal Building: | | Credit: @aemarling/Instagram
Tag or DM me your political street art sightings @hunterschwarz on Twitter or Instagram, or email me at coverlinehunter@cnn.com.
P.S.:
Britney Spears is going on an indefinite work hiatus and putting her upcoming "Domination" residency on hold following her father's hospitalization. "I had to make the difficult decision to put my full focus and energy on my family at this time," she wrote on Instagram this afternoon. Thoughts and prayers with the Spears family. 💕 | | | | | | |
