Quickly checking in on the stories I've been following this week:
GOP splintering -- Just a half-assed Tweet this morning from Trump; someone must've roofied his AM Diet Coke:
The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don't get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 30, 2017
I don't know what he thinks he's accomplishing, and I don't think he's even thinking about it. But at least from my perspective, half-assed lashing out is much less fun than lashing out with his (more than ample) full ass.
On Russia, it seems that the Senate is about to take the pile of shoes (what kind of shoes do they wear in Russia? I'm going with sneakers with Velcro) that Devin Nunes has been hoarding and to prepare to drop them themselves, though nothing's happened yet.
In an hour-long appearance, committee Chair Richard Burr (R-NC) and Vice-Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) framed their probe as one of most ambitious investigative efforts ever taken on by a congressional committee. Burr, a 22-year veteran of Capitol Hill, framed the investigation as “one of the biggest” he’s seen in his tenure in Washington, D.C.
Warner concurred, saying, “When we started this, we saw the scope, what was involved, I said it was the most important thing I have ever taken on in my public life. I believe that more firmly now.”
Their solemn assurances to investigate the full scope of Russia’s involvement, to look into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russian officials, and to produce a truly bipartisan report on their findings offered a stark contrast from the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation, led by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA). The House’s probe came to a standstill this week over Nunes’ overly close relationship with the President, and he and ranking member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) haven’t appeared together publicly in days.
The hearings are just getting started, and you can listen to them here. I'll be checking in on that throughout the day. Listening to the introduction, it seems like they're going to focus on Russian efforts to undermine elections, but not as much on Trump complicity, which, if it is the case, won't accomplish much -- I hope I'm wrong.
On Gorsuch and the nuclear option, I keep asking this question:
@politico Is there any evidence of Republican Senators wavering on the nuclear option? The Dems only need three. https://t.co/DpGO7cNmtn— Great Consolidation (@tgconsolidation) March 30, 2017
No real answers yet, but it seems Celeste P. is on the case:
@tgconsolidation THAT is a good question. I need to go dig. Will let you know.— Celeste P. (@Celeste_pewter) March 30, 2017
More later...
UPDATE (3/30/2017, 10:34 AM): That's a little more like it... corresponding with the beginning of the hearings:
The failing @nytimes has disgraced the media world. Gotten me wrong for two solid years. Change libel laws? https://t.co/QIqLgvYLLi— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 30, 2017
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