A spokesman for Sen. Chuck Grassley, Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called Sen. Dianne Feinstein's decision to release the transcript of Glenn Simpson's testimony "totally confounding."
"Her action undermines the integrity of the committee's oversight work and jeopardizes its ability to secure candid voluntary testimony relating to the independent recollections of future witnesses," spokesman Taylor Foy wrote in a statement.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says the agency "was never considering a regulatory change that would force H-1B visa holders to leave the United States." The statement comes after reports last week that DHS was considering ending H-1B extensions for visa holders with a pending green card.
Why it matters: Changing the practice of extending H-1B visas for workers with pending cards would have forced thousands of workers to leave the country. Industry sources told Axios that last week's reports were likely part of a trial balloon and that, following the backlash to the leaks, DHS is looking to back away from the idea. USCIS, however, says the suggestion that it "changed its position because of pressure is absolutely false."
The guy who one year ago was seen as the architect of the most improbable campaign win of our lifetimes, the co-chief of staff and the Trump whisperer on America First, is finished. Banished from the White House. Banished from the Trump family. Banished from his sugar Mercers. And now banished from Breitbart - ousted from his own company.
The guy loves history. Well, this political suicide is historic.
Bannon still thinks of himself as a revolutionary. That self-perception won’t change. It’s just that now he has no vehicle, no staff, no platform, and no major donors funding his ambitions.
A wild afternoon of immigration news left Congress virtually in the same place as it was before a bipartisan group of lawmakers met with President Trump: headed for a government shutdown next week unless someone caves.
Between the lines: Republicans and Democrats are still miles apart on a deal to protect immigrants brought to the US as children. They're also still negotiating a spending caps deal. Without either of these questions resolved, there's a real possibility members of each party vote against a short-term spending bill next week, shutting down the government.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein released the full transcript of Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson's August testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee without the approval of Sen. Chuck Grassley, the committee's Republican chairman.
Why it matters: Last week, Grassley and Sen. Lindsey Graham were criticized by Democrats for issuing a criminal referral against Christopher Steele, the principal author of the Trump-Russia dossier. The decision today by Feinstein, the top Democrat on the committee, could further erode the relationship between members of the bipartisan committee.
Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said President Trump will look for border security as well as an end to chain migration and the diversity visa program in the DACA bill. "Everyone" at today's bipartisan meeting at the White House agreed to focus on those security measures, she added.
The backdrop: Trump initially agreed to a "clean DACA bill" — one that purely protects Dreamers — proposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, but he later clarified that his definition of a clean bill includes security measures. Sanders also did not specify whether one of Trump's must-haves in the bill, "border security," means funding for a border wall. If it does, it could be a potential hiccup in securing Democratic support.
Hours after President Trump met with a group of bipartisan House and Senate members to discuss immigration ahead of next week's government spending bill deadline, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said any deal would be separate from efforts to fund the government.
Our thought bubble via Jonathan Swan: GOP leaders have been paralyzed by the fear of dividing their conferences on the Dreamer issue. Everything is up in the air at the moment. Nothing resolved today, little progress made.
Why it matters: Congress has until March 5 to find a DACA fix or risk putting Dreamers' protections in jeopardy. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said legislation must be tied to the spending bill, signaling that Democrats could force a government shutdown if it isn't.
President Trump turned what was supposed to be a closed-press bipartisan immigration meeting to a 55-minute back and forth with reporters on Tuesday. He urged lawmakers to treat a fix for Dreamers as a "bill of love."
Jonathan Swan's thought bubble: Trump holding court for so long on policy could be seen as a way of demonstrating for the cameras that he’s engaged in the policy debate and alert to the political challenges. A way of reversing the narrative from the Wolff book. I haven’t confirmed whether he vocalized that as his motivation, but a source close to the White House was quick to text me after the meeting and make that point.
Two key takeaways: There's no sign of a bipartisan deal on immigration as the next week's spending bill deadline nears. And Trump thinks he'd beat Oprah if she ran for president in 2020.
President Trump said on Tuesday that Congress should "think about going back to a form of earmarks."
Background: An earmark refers to part of a spending bill that allocates money for a specific purpose, often something specific to a lawmaker's district that helps win their vote for legislation. They were eliminated in 2011.
President Trump met with a group of bipartisan House and Senate members on Tuesday to discuss immigration ahead of next week's spending bill deadline. He told the press: "I hope we're going to come up with an answer for DACA."
Be smart: This meeting seemed to produce no real immigration agreement, which threatens any potential deals on the spending cap.
Following his bipartisan immigration lunch at the White House, President Trump addressed the hype surrounding a potential presidential run by Oprah Winfrey in 2020, telling reporters he would beat her.
“Oprah will be lots of fun. I did one of her last shows.... I like Oprah. I don’t think she’s going to run.”
Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio — the recipient of President Trump's first official pardon — is running for Sen. Jeff Flake's open seat in Arizona, the Washington Examiner reports.
Why it matters: In August,Trump granted Arpaio a pardon of his conviction for criminal contempt for disregarding a 2011 court order to stop detaining people based on suspicions they were undocumented immigrants. Critics have called the practice racist and discriminatory, and Trump's pardon decision was a highly controversial one.
The N.Y. Times profiles former Wall Street Journal reporter Glenn Simpson who is in part responsible for the explosive dossier Russia dossier ... "He Sought Dirt, Then Spotlight Shone on Him: Ex-Journalist at Center of the Russia Inquiry," by Matt Flegenheimer:
Why he matters: "For months, Mr. Simpson’s name has ricocheted across the halls of Congress and the airwaves of Fox News, becoming shorthand in conservative circles for purported investigatory overreach and counterconspiracies against the White House." Worth the click.
"Top Senate Republicans have quietly reached out to J.D. Vance — the star author of 'Hillbilly Elegy' — about running for Senate in Ohio after the abrupt withdrawal of GOP candidate Josh Mandel last week," Politico reports.
While Oprah and Michael Wolff soak up mindshare, two new revelations about North Korea and the Mueller investigation make it clear that reality may soon cast a pall over the addictive craziness of "The Trump Show."
Forget all the noise — the Fantasyland tweeting and coverage. These could be the two biggest intrusions of reality since Trump took office.
Tom Steyer is spending $30 million on House races to help progressive Democrats get elected. He's not running for office in 2018, despite wide speculation that he’d make a bid for California governor or for the U.S. Senate.
Why it matters: Although Steyer said he won't endorse any specific Democratic candidates, his movement could inevitably elevate certain Democrats over others because he's focusing on promoting progressives and progressive policies. And that matters because as Steyer told me, "We have tried not to engage in Democrat-on-Democrat [races] because we feel like it’s enough of a struggle to beat Republicans."
President Trump is at college football's national championship between Georgia and Alabama, and he took the field to join in the national anthem.
Per WashPost's Josh Dawsey: "Trump was both cheered and booed as he strode to midfield for the national anthem -- sounded like mainly cheers. He stood stoic at midfield, hand over heart, mouthing words."
With talk of a potential Democratic wave in 2018 growing louder, Mike Pence told the Wall Street Journal Republicans can "buck that historic trend... we think we can expand our majority in the Senate. And we really believe that we can re-elect a majority in the House."
The strategy: Pence and Trump are planning a "two-step,"a person familiar with the plan told the Journal. Pence will work on fundraising and will visit the competitive districts and states early in the election season, while Trump will draw crowds and rile voters up with rallies later on.
Why it matters: Pence is sending an early signal that he will be heavily involved in 2018.
