An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson confirmed to the Washington Post Saturday that the agency has been ordered by a federal judge to feed and hydrate nine detainees on a hunger strike at an El Paso detention center against their consent.
“ICE does not retaliate in any way against hunger strikers. ICE explains the negative health effects of not eating to our detainees. For their health and safety, ICE closely monitors the food and water intake of those detainees identified as being on a hunger strike."
— ICE spokesperson
Backdrop: The Associated Press first reported this week that 10 detainees at the EL Paso facility have gone on a hunger strike to protest against “rampant verbal abuse and threats of deportation from guards.” ICE did not reveal their identities, but Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) — whose district includes El Paso — said most of the detainees she met at the facility had been in custody for 15–18 months, according to the Post.
Milwaukee is the odds-on favorite for the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Politico Playbook reports. Houston and Miami are the other finalists.
Pluses for Milwaukee: Wisconsinwas one of the vital heartland states that put Donald Trump over the top in 2016, and midterm results showed it's very winnable by Dems in 2020. DNC Chair Tom Perez also has a personal connection, Politico points out: "His wife went to high school there and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The two were also married in Milwaukee."
The rising Democratic enthusiasmfor big government liberalism is forcing a trio of leading 2020 contenders to rethink jumping in, several sources tell Axios.
What's happening: Michael Bloomberg and former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, each of whom were virtual locks to run, are having serious second thoughts after watching Democrats embrace "Medicare for All," big tax increases and the Green New Deal. Joe Biden, who still wants to run, is being advised to delay any plans to see how this lurch to the left plays out. If Biden runs, look for Bloomberg and McAuliffe to bow out, the sources tell us.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned President Trump during a face-to-face meeting at the White House that using emergency powers to get funding for his border wall "may trigger political blowback and divide the GOP," the Washington Post reports.
Why it matters: Trump told the New York Times Thursday that bipartisan conference talks will have been "a waste of time" if Democrats don't provide funding for a wall, and signaled that he has laid the groundwork for declaring a national emergency. McConnell reportedly told Trump that the Senate may pass a resolution disapproving of his use of emergency powers, potentially forcing the president to issue a veto — his first ever — in defiance of his own party.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has apologized to the Cherokee Nation for her controversial decision to take a DNA test to prove her Native American ancestry, The Intercept reports.
Why it matters: The apology comes days before Warren is expected to formally announce her decision to run for president in 2020, after having formed an exploratory committee in December. In an interview with the New York Times Thursday, President Trump said Warren has been "hurt very badly" by the DNA controversy, referring to it pejoratively as "the Pocahontas trap."
The U.S. has announced it will be withdrawing from Cold-War era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia that banned some nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles, per the AP.
Driving the news: President Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton has long been warning a withdrawal was coming, and Russia and the U.S. just failed at another round of talks to work out differences — the U.S. says Russia has been deploying missiles that violate the deal for years. The U.S. will withdraw in six months unless Russia destroys "all of its violating missiles, launchers, and associated equipment," Trump said Friday.
For President Trump's first State of the Union under divided government later this month, Democrats have invited female immigrants and former employees of his New Jersey golf club, as well as a black woman who ran a close race for governor of Georgia, Stacey Abrams, to deliver the Democrats' rebuttal.
The big picture:"[T]he striking visual is shaping up to be the new lawmakers who will be arrayed around the president and elected in the wake of Trump's inflammatory statements about women, immigrants, Muslims and more," AP Laurie Kellman writes.
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey is entering the Democratic primaries for the 2020 presidential election.
The big picture: A not-small chunk of Senate Democrats are running or considering running for president, and Booker has been openly angling for a candidacy for a long time.
Over the past week, President Trump has asked friends and advisers how they think the shutdown has affected him politically and what he should be doing to recover his standing in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. Trump has also been polling these advisers on who they think will be the most formidable challenger to him in 2020.
Why it matters: Those three states delivered the presidency to Trump, but turned against him in the midterms. Several have told him that his biggest risk is a candidate like Joe Biden who they believe could sweep Trump out of the Rust Belt.
Over the first two years, President Trump could get away with largely extending his campaign bluster: Build a "big, beautiful wall" and get Mexico to pay for it, withdraw from foreign entanglements, deliver "incredible" healthcare, slash drug prices and fundamentally change the U.S.-China relationship.
Between the lines: Now he faces a new reality that's driven by Democrats in Congress and the need to deliver on his lofty promises.
In a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times Thursday, President Trump said Sen. Kamala Harris has had the best "opening act" out of the Democrats who have signaled they will run for president in 2020.
The big picture: Trump said the Democratic party as a whole has “really drifted far left” and claimed Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been "hurt very badly with the Pocahontas trap," referring to her effort last year to prove she has Native American heritage. When asked about speculation that he may not run for re-election in 2020, Trump told the Times that he loves being president and that he doesn't see any viable Republican candidates who could challenge him in a primary.
President Trump told the New York Times in a wide-ranging interview that negotiations with Democratic lawmakers will have been "a waste of time" if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn't provide funding for a border wall, and signaled that he has laid the groundwork for a national emergency if no deal is reached.
“I think Nancy Pelosi is hurting our country very badly by doing what’s she doing and, ultimately, I think I’ve set the table very nicely. ... I’ve set the table. I’ve set the stage for doing what I’m going to do."
Why it matters: There are two weeks until the Feb. 15 government shutdown deadline, and while the House and Senate have come together in a bipartisan conference to negotiate a border deal, both sides have drawn their red lines and don't seem to be budging. If Trump does move forward with an emergency declaration, it will likely trigger a legal challenge.
The Senate Intelligence Committee has obtained phone records showing that President Trump was not one of the blocked numbers his son Donald Trump Jr. called before and after the infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, CNN first reported and ABC News later confirmed.
The big picture: Trump Jr. made phone calls to two blocked numbers the same day he spoke with Russian pop star Emin Agalarov, who helped set up a meeting three days later with a Kremlin-linked lawyer claiming to have dirt on Hillary Clinton. He made another phone call to a private number several hours after the meeting. There has long been speculation that the calls were to his father, and that then-candidate Trump had advanced knowledge of the meeting — an allegation he has denied.
