BORDER/DEMS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WALL: “Dems offer Trump money — with strings attached. House Democrats are drafting a letter to President Donald Trump offering roughly $5 billion for border security – if the president agrees to reopen the government. The catch: The money can’t be used for any ‘new structures’ (read: a wall) along the southern border. No wall means an unhappy president, so the proposal is unlikely to move as is. But it’s still significant: It’s the first time Democratic leaders will lay out a compromise to end the partial government shutdown, now in its 33rd day. The state of the State of the Union: Security concerns be damned, Trump seems determined to give his State of the Union address as scheduled. But where? Probably not the U.S. House chamber, as Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi basically blocked Trump from speaking there. (Pelosi won’t let the president be formally invited to the chamber as long as the shutdown continues.) Now Trump aides are looking for an alternative site and perhaps an alternative date as well. The annual address is currently scheduled for Tuesday.”
–Ashley Shaffer, “All of the money, none of the wall,” USA Today, January 23, 2019 6:25 pm