White House moves to distance Trump from shutdown

Source: Politico




By ANDREW RESTUCCIA 01/19/2018 08:34 AM EST Updated 01/19/2018 01:25 PM EST

White House aides scrambled on Friday to ensure President Donald Trump wasn’t blamed for the looming government shutdown and they rearranged the president’s schedule amid concerns about the optics of traveling to his lavish private club in Florida while federal agencies prepared to close their doors.

With the prospects of a shutdown increasing by the hour, Trump sent two senior aides -- Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short -- to the White House briefing room to make the case that the crisis was created by Democrats.

“There’s no way you can lay this at the feet of the president of the United States,” Mulvaney told reporters, calling the situation the “Schumer Shutdown” after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who he said is “in a position to force this on the American people.”

Mulvaney and Short faced questions from reporters about why the president hadn’t yet summoned congressional leaders to the White House on Friday in a last-ditch bid to strike a deal and how Republicans can blame Democrats when they have majorities in both the House and Senate.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/19/government-shutdown-2018-trump-delay-florida-trip-349308?lo=ap_a1