7. Comedian Patton Oswalt turned a Twitter attack into a windfall for a veteran in need
— After Madison, AL, resident Michael Beatty insulted him on Twitter for his opinions on President Trump, Oswalt fired back with an insult. After reading his page some, Oswalt ended up donating $2,000 to his GoFundMe.
— The actor donated the money after reading about his recent medical issues including sepsis, diabetic ketoacidosis and coma. The actor asked his followers to also donate, which led to $16,000 being raised.
6. While the Commerce secretary catches heat after telling federal employees to get a loan, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) stops the Coast Guard from getting paid
— When asked about federal workers going to food banks, Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross responded that he didn’t “really quite understand why” when they could just get loans at a bank. While this comment is reasonable, he was attacked for it.
— Alternatively, Schumer single-handedly stood in the way of the Coast Guard receiving pay by rejecting Sen. John Kennedy’s (R-LA) request to pay the Coast Guard because the entire government would not be opened.
5. Asylum seekers will now have to go back to Mexico to wait for their asylum claims to be processed
— The Trump administration will start sending some asylum-seeking migrants back to Mexico to wait for their immigration court hearings starting on Friday instead of allowing them to stay in the United States.
— The change in policy comes in response to a large number of migrants entering the country illegally and then requesting asylum when caught. This includes a large group of immigrants who tunneled under the wall and immediately sought asylum.
4. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) goes big to court the far left in the 2020 Democratic primary
— Warren’s plan would tax Americans’ cumulative wealth instead of their income, which raises questions of whether her plan to go after this money is even constitutional.
— The 2020 presidential candidate believes that it will raise $2.75 trillion over a 10-year period and took to Twitter to say, “I’m calling it the ‘Ultra-Millionaire Tax’ & it applies to that tippy top 0.1% – those with a net worth of over $50M.”
3. Trump confidant Roger Stone is arrested as part of the Mueller investigation
— Roger Stone, a longtime aide/friend of President Donald Trump, got arrested Friday morning by the FBI on allegations he lied and obstructed the investigation of the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
— The allegations in the seven-count indictment include that they believe Stone misled lawmakers on the committee about his communication with WikiLeaks and his contacts with the Trump campaign as part of the larger effort by the Russians to meddle in the 2016 election.
2. Alabama senators split on President Trump’s plan for border wall compromise that would have reopened the government
— Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) voted “yes” and Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) voted “no” on the “End the Shutdown and Secure the Border Act.” Reports indicate that Jones waited for the procedure to pass the threshold for failure before he cast his vote against the bill that would have built part of the wall and extended DACA.
— The Senate Democratic bill to end the shutdown received more votes than the Republican bill does as Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) voted for the Democrat bill. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) the only Democrat who voted for the Republican bill.
1. A bipartisan group of senators emerges with an idea as we enter day 35 of the partial government shutdown
— The starting point of the bipartisan proposal is a shared goal to pay furloughed government employees and create “breathing space” for further negotiations, but no one knows if congressional leaders or the president will support it.
— President Donald Trump is standing somewhat firm on his request for funding for the border wall by seeking a “prorated down payment” for it, but even some Republicans are confused by what that means.
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