CONGRESS/GOVERNMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WALL: “The government shutdown is threatening important pieces of President Donald Trump’s agenda, escalating the political stakes as he and Congress vie to see who blinks first. At EPA and the Interior Department, furloughs have frozen efforts to roll back Obama-era regulations and open new water to oil and gas drilling. The White House has sent home key staff coordinating its response to the opioid crisis. And if the partial shutdown drags on long enough, it could force Trump to cancel a late-January trip to Davos, Switzerland, and delay congressional action on the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal. Trump shows no signs of backing off, telling reporters that the shutdown — triggered by his demands that Congress fund a border wall — has ‘a higher purpose than next week’s pay.’ But the potential blowback to his own policy priorities shows that the closure is likely to inflict cascading harm as it continues, beyond its initial impact on parks, museums and federal workers’ paychecks.”
–Eric Wolff and Brianna Ehley, “Newest shutdown casualty: Trump’s own policies,” Politico, January 8, 2019 5:01 am