White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivers remarks to the awaiting press pool on current events.

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Yesterday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a video-conference message to the assembly of international economic leadership in Davos. [Full remarks and transcript below]

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[Transcript] SECRETARY POMPEO: Good morning, and thank you, Borge, for your kind introduction. And thank you to the World Economic Forum for the invitation to speak today. It’s 18 degrees Fahrenheit here in Washington, D.C. You see the Lincoln Memorial to my back. So while I’m not here in person, I at least feel like I’m in Davos with the weather.
It’s interesting times that we live in. Over the past few years, all around the world, voters have tuned out politicians and political alliances that they thought weren’t representing their interests. A few examples of new directions that people have taken: Brexit; the election of President Macron in France; the rise of the Five Star Movement in Italy; Mahathir’s comeback in Malaysia; and of course, Borge, as you referenced, the election of President Donald Trump.
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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

The House Judiciary Committee is the lead committee on the constitutional process to evoke articles of impeachment.  Jerry Nadler is the committee Chairman.  Speaker Pelosi previously created specific rules for the House in a well planned construct to empower three committee heads (Cummings, Schiff and Nadler) toward a narrow path.
Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings is leading off on Thursday February 7th, 2019, with testimony from Trump’s former legal counsel Michael Cohen.  It should be noted Mr. Cohen is being represented at the committee hearing by DNC operative Lanny Davis. However, Mr. Lanny Davis is not being paid by Mr. Cohen; he is being paid by democrat groups supporting the ‘resistance’ strategy.

The very next day, Friday February 8th, Nadler has scheduled the DOJ to appear for his first round approach in the legislative trident.   This is all being done by a well-crafted design.  Toward that end, today Chairman Jerry Nadler sends an anticipatory demand letter (full pdf below) to Acting AG Matthew Whitaker telling him the committee will not respect any claims of executive privilege between the DOJ and the White House.

Washington, D.C. –Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker outlining a list of prepared questions concerning communications between the Mr. Whitaker and President Trump in advance of the February 8th House Judiciary Committee hearing.

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The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to bypass normal procedures and decide quickly about the status of a 2020 citizenship question on the Census.

Citing an emergency rule, Solicitor General Noel Francisco stated “the case is of such imperative public importance as to justify deviation from normal appellate practice and to require immediate determination in this Court.”

(WaPo) Last week, U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman of New York ordered the administration to stop its plans to add the question to the survey. Furman said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross broke a “veritable smorgasbord” of federal rules by overriding the advice of career officials who said including the citizenship question was likely to cut down the response rate and make the census less accurate. (more)

The administration is informing the court the decision is needed by the end of June in order to meet the deadlines for printing the census reports.  The solicitor general is proposing arguments for April if the court accepts the urgency request.

Director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow responded to a fake news story the U.S. has canceled a trade meeting with China; never happened – there was no meeting scheduled.  Mr. Kudlow discusses some of the granular issues within the ongoing trade discussion with the Chinese.
Additionally, Chairman Kudlow discusses his outlook for the economy in light of the government shutdown.

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There are some political observers who believe an extended government shutdown, that can impact the overall U.S. economy, is actually the goal behind the Pelosi strategy.  There is a plausible basis for this perspective.  Tom Donohue (et al) and Wall Street (writ large) would be the primary beneficiaries if Pelosi can break the “America First” economic focus.  It would not surprise me to find out the Big Club people behind the Pelosi/Schumer strategy hold this K-Street intent.  We’ll have to keep watching.
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It looks like Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi has no intention of allowing the House chamber to be used for a State of the Union address.
Speaker Pelosi has informed the House Sergeant at Arms that no executive branch official will be permitted entry into the Capitol building.
Earlier Fox News reported Pelosi cancelled a walkthrough last week, and a second request for reconsideration from the White House is expected to meet the same fate. The House Speaker controls who is, and who is not, permitted entry to the House floor. Until Speaker Pelosi calls for a vote to support a joint session of congress, the President cannot enter the chamber.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Hogan Gidley discusses the status of the current shutdown negotiations and the likelihood a SOU address will have to take place outside Washington DC.

In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †