CONGRESS/CRIME/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Wednesday [11-14-18] endorsed a criminal justice deal taking shape in Congress, giving a boost to the measure even as it faces a cool reception in the Senate from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. It’s unclear whether the package, which includes sentencing reform provisions that divide the Senate Republican Caucus, would get through the Senate. Reformers like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) back the legislation, while others like Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) call it a ‘jailbreak’ bill, and some prominent liberal Democrats have yet to lend their support to the agreement…McConnell isn’t making any commitments to move a criminal justice proposal in the lame-duck session, saying Wednesday that he needs to see final legislative language, then gauge support for the bill among his 51-member caucus and then see whether the Senate has time to squeeze it onto the calendar. Congress must fund a quarter of the government by Dec. 7 and McConnell also wants to finish the long-stalled farm bill before year’s end.”
–Andrew Restuccia, Elana Schor and Burgess Everett, “Trump endorses criminal justice bill that divides McConnell’s GOP,” Politico, November 14, 2018 6:50 pm