Week 106: January 27-February 2

The government funding/wall problem has been kicked to a bipartisan conference committee of congressional appropriation members. They have until February 15 to come up with a solution.

Pelosi invited Trump to give State of the Union on February 5. He accepted.

A poll showed that 56% of all Americans would “definitely not vote for” Trump in 2020, and although “75 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents approve of Trump’s performance” one-third of them prefer he lose in a primary.

The top intelligence chiefs testified in Congress with some conclusions that go against Trump’s rhetoric, namely that North Korea will continue its nuclear program, that Iran is complying with the nuclear deal, and that ISIS is not defeated.

Trump responded on twitter, basically saying they are wrong. But on Thursday in the Oval Office he told the press that the media had misquoted them and that they told him it was fake news.

The Senate voted to rebuke Trump’s Syria and Afghanistan withdrawal policy:
“The vote was the second time in two months that a Republican-led Senate had rebuked Mr. Trump on foreign policy.”

The Trump Administration withdrew from a late Cold War era nuclear weapons treaty. Russia followed suit by withdrawing itself a day later.

Russia Investigation

Whitaker made impromptu statements at a Monday press conference that the Mueller investigation was close to closing up, and that he had been “fully briefed on the investigation.”

Roger Stone plead not guilty to the Special Counsel’s charges.

Trump’s Job Approval: 39.6%