Simona Mangiante — fiancée of former Trump campaign national security adviser George Papadopoulos — told the Washington Post that Papadopoulos "is on the right side of history" in the Russia probe. “I believe history will remember him like John Dean,” she said, referencing Nixon's White House counsel who pleaded guilty and then became a key witness in the Watergate investigation.
The bottom line: "Without offering specifics, Mangiante said there is much more that has not yet been told publicly about Papadopoulos’ 10 months as an informal national security adviser to Trump," the Post reports.
As the Senate voted on a continuing resolution to keep the government open until Feb. 8, senators from both sides of the aisle visited the White House to continue negotiating an immigration deal with Trump.
Why it matters: We could well be heading for another shutdown if no agreement on immigration is reached by Feb. 8.
Republicans may have won the government shutdown battle, but there is still no winning strategy for the party on immigration.
The bottom line: No one knows what the White House wants on immigration. So while Democrats may be taking the short-term sting from an angry base, the bigger fight comes in three weeks, when Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has committed to take some action on protection for illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, called Dreamers.
Press Secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed Monday that President Trump will go with his delegation to meet with world leaders at Davos. The trip was in flux due to the government shutdown, which is expected to end today after the House holds a vote to pass the Senate's CR.
One more thing: Sanders said Trump has full confidence in Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. "He loves Wilbur." Axios' Jonathan Swan reported on Sunday that Trump said, "Wilbur has lost his step. Actually, he’s probably lost a lot of steps."
Congress is finally about to restore federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, more than three months after it expired. The Senate is moving forward on a bill to reopen the federal government and extend federal CHIP funding for six years.
Why it matters: States — and the millions of families who rely on CHIP — can breathe easy after months of turmoil. Congress will return to its broader fight over immigration and government spending in just a few weeks, but health care coverage for 9 million children won’t be caught in the middle of that fight.
Sen. Chuck Schumer said Monday that Democrats and Republicans have reached a bipartisan deal to end the government shutdown until February 8th, by which time if a deal is not reached, the Senate will immediately look to DACA legislation.
Why it matters: Not everyone is happy with the agreement, however, and numerous senators are still voting "no."
Below is a leaked draft document with plans for the White House infrastructure plan, a key campaign priority of President Trump.
Comment from White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters: “We are not going to comment on the contents of a leaked document but look forward to presenting our plan in the near future.
Senators are voting now on a three-week continuing resolution. Enough Democrats are expected to vote for the deal after Mitch McConnell indicated there will be a vote on Dreamers and border security.
Key quote: Sen. Joe Manchin, leaving a Democratic caucus meeting, said it was "very positive" and predicted the government was about to reopen.
Just as the outrage sparked by Michael Wolff's "Fire and Fury" begins to die down, another new book on the disfunction surrounding the West Wing, this one by Fox News host Howard Kurtz, is set to hit shelves.
Why it matters: Excerpts from Kurtz's book, obtained by the Washington Post, reveal a White House "riven by chaos, with aides scrambling to respond to the president’s impulses and writing policy to fit his tweets," writes the Post's Ashley Parker. Kurtz says some of Trump's aides go so far as to call his behavior "Defiance Disorder.”
The Republican National Committee launched a six-figure campaign this weekend targeting 2.6 million voters in midterm battleground states with Democratic senators — Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The campaign blames Democrats for the government shutdown.
Why it matters: The GOP has raised a record amount of money, and is already using it to get involved in a few specific, crucial midterm races. This comes after Republicans lost ground in special elections last week in Wisconsin, Idaho and South Carolina, on top of the Virginia and Alabama losses last year.
Shutdown Day 3 ... Senate votes at noon on possible solution, as federal agencies carry out furlough plans: "Many more Americans will begin feeling the repercussions of a shutdown that officially began at 12:01 a.m. Saturday after most government offices had stopped work for the weekend," per Bloomberg:
"The widening disruption intensifies frantic efforts by Republicans and Democrats to blame one another for the deadlock and may harden the determination of lawmakers to gain leverage from the moment."
Even if the government shutdown ends soon, there's no obvious solution for the immigration issue at the center of it all — and it's hard to see how one comes together.
Our thought bubble: Both parties are being driven by activists on immigration and it's extremely hard to imagine an immigration deal that could pass the House and the Senate with the support of President Trump.
When asked earlier this evening if he thought the government would remain shut down tomorrow, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn told reporters, "Right now, yeah. Yeah, I do." He just ducked into a meeting in Mitch McConnell's office with Lindsey Graham and Jeff Flake, but his tweets tonight have continued to paint a pessimistic picture, indicating that his views on the situation haven't changed.
