In a letter to congressional leadership, 115 CEOs and business leaders — including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Meg Whitman, Mary Barra, Stephen Schwarzman and Dara Khosrowshahi — urged lawmakers to pass legislation to protect Dreamers by January 19th, the government's spending deadline.
"The imminent termination of the DACA program is creating an impending crisis for workforces across the country," they wrote.
Canada is anticipating an announcement from President Trump that he will pull the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Reuters reports, citing Canadian government sources. They expect the announcement in late January, when U.S. officials meet with negotiators from Canada and Mexico for a sixth round of talks about NAFTA.
Update: The White House is saying there's been no change in Trump's position on NAFTA, per Reuters.
President Trump said Wednesday that, “Any solution [regarding DACA] has to include the wall because without the wall it doesn’t work," in a joint press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg.
Trump also dodged questions on whether he'd sit down with Special Counsel Robert Mueller as part of the Russia probe. "We'll see what happens," he said. "When you have no collusion ... it seems unlikely that you'd even have an interview."
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeted 98 7-Eleven stores and made 21 arrests in the early hours of Wednesday morning in the largest operation targeting an employer since Trump’s been president, per the AP. During the visits the agents interviewed employees and delivered audit notifications.
Why it matters: Trump has indicated interest in increasing the number of deportations from current levels, and since Trump took office, ICE agents have made 40% more arrests.
President Trump welcomed the press "back to the studio" today for the first Cabinet meeting of 2018, and boasted about his handling of yesterday's bipartisan meeting on immigration, reiterating that "we want to see something happen with DACA."
"My performance — some people called it my performance, I consider it work — got great reviews by everybody except two networks ... [Some said] it was one of the greatest meetings they've ever seen." Note: no agreement was reached on immigration during the meeting.
House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte is expected to introduce his immigration bill today, allowing those under DACA to receive "three-year renewable legal status" in addition to providing $30 billion for a border wall, cutting off citizens and green card holders from sponsoring extended family and ending the Diversity Visa Lottery, according to a WSJ op-ed he released Tuesday with Reps. Michael McCaul, Raul Labrador and Martha McSally.
Why it matters: This bill mirrors the Grassley-Cornyn bill introduced on the Senate side in December, and includes most, if not all, of Trump's immigration demands.
What to watch: His seat will be particularly vulnerable in the 2018 midterm elections, as Hillary Clinton won his district by 7.5 points. Local outlet OC Daily reports that Republican Diane Harkey is expected to announce her candidacy for the seat, and Democrat Mike Levin has already begun his campaign.
Darrell Issa is the latest in a series of House Republicans to depart Congress after this term, he announced Wednesday. His seat in southern California is particularly vulnerable for the party in 2018, as Hillary Clinton won his district by 7.5 points.
Outlier check: There are now 28 retiring representatives. The average number over the last five election cycles has been 23. Over that time, there has been more attrition from Republicans than from Democrats, however, the 3-to-1 ratio of retiring Republicans to Democrats this cycle is considerable.
President Trump seemed to say two things yesterday about how he wanted to proceed with legislation to protect Dreamers, leading to some confusion over whether he would support a bill that doesn't include some border security provisions.
Why it matters: Trump's statements appeared to support both Republican and Democrat demands on immigration, which might give Democrats some leverage. The issue will be the most contentious fight in Congress in the coming weeks as part of the debate over government funding and what to do ahead of a deadline on addressing immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. Democrats want to tie the issue to funding the government while Republicans want to include border-security and funding for the wall.
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein is the latest target of Trump's tweets. "The fact that Sneaky Dianne Feinstein ... would release testimony in such an underhanded and possibly illegal way, totally without authorization, is a disgrace. Must have tough Primary!" he wrote.
Our thought bubble: Feinstein is expected to face a primary challenge from Kevin de León, who is mounting a campaign as a more progressive alternative. Ironically, Trump's attacks on Feinstein could actually help position her as a stronger opponent to the president, which is what de León and progressives have been pressuring her to be.
The White House thinks it's "outrageous" that a federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration “to maintain the DACA program on a nationwide basis,” calling the decision "outrageous."
"As Trump's presidency begins its second year and with Michael Wolff's book ... topping best-seller lists, dozens more books about everything from civil liberties to fears of autocracy are scheduled to come out in 2018," AP's Hillel Italie writes:
"Books of 'resistance' will include guides to activism, reflections on democracy, investigations of Russian interference in last year’s election and legal analysis, along with poetry and fiction."
A senior administration official says that Trump will have "a very carrot-and-stick message," like on his Asia swing, and won't back off anything at the World Economic Form in Davos later this month:
President Trump enjoyed yesterday's episode of "The Trump Show": He played the president he sometimes fantasizes being — a post-partisan leader, bigger than Republican or Democrat, a celebrity dealmaker with no firm attachments, who’d overwhelm Washington through the sheer strength of statecraft and deal-cutting genius. A real Davos man. P.T. Barnum with a pulpit.
His presidency hasn’t lived up to that vision. Trump’s victories have been partisan victories — unwinding regulations, appointing conservative judges, withdrawing from the Paris climate deal, passing a Republican tax bill and repealing the cornerstone of Obamacare.
A federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration “to maintain the DACA program on a nationwide basis” as a result of a lawsuit filed by the University of California and others, per NYT. The ruling, which only allows the resumption of DACA renewals from prior applicants, prompted a Justice Department response stating the program was “an unlawful circumvention of Congress” and promising a legal fight.
Why it matters: It’s yet another setback for a controversial Trump administration policy thanks to a federal judge. And though the decision could allow some Dreamers to breathe a sigh of relief, it could undermine the push for Congress to find a definitive legislative solution for DACA over the coming weeks and months.
A near record amount of coal-powered electricity is poised to shut down this year, according to recently released federal data.
Why it matters: President Trump has promised to revive the coal industry, but virtually all objective market trends and analysis indicate that’s not going to happen in any sizable manner.
President Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen, has filed a defamation lawsuit against BuzzFeed, as well as a separate suit against Fusion GPS and founder Glenn Simpson, over claims made in the Russia dossier commissioned by Fusion and published by Buzzfeed News, according to a Bloomberg report.
Why it matters: The dossier includes "unverified claims that Cohen and Trump had suspicious connections with Russian figures," per Bloomberg.
