John Bolton
Verified account @AmbJohnBolton
Iran just test-fired an INF range ballistic missile capable of reaching Israel and Europe. This provocative behavior cannot be tolerated.
https://twitter.com/AmbJohnBolton/status/1068960419480514560
Deadlock in border wall fight as government shutdown looms
Republicans left town Friday without any idea how they can reach a spending deal in a week that gives President Trump his $5 billion in border wall funding and yet can also be passed in the Senate.
Trump has threatened to veto any bill that doesn't include his $5 billion, but Democrats say they'll only accept the $1.6 billion approved in a bipartisan bill in the Senate. That's setting up the possibility of a partial government shutdown, since several agencies won't have funding past Dec. 7 without a new spending bill.
But Congress hasn't gotten anywhere so far. “No developments that I know of,” Senate Majority Leader John Cornyn, R-Texas, said when asked whether talks had progressed in any way.
Republicans are kicking around a few ideas, but it's not clear they'd be enough to win the support of both Senate Democrats and Trump.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., has talked about spending $5 billion over two years and says he thinks Trump could accept half a loaf. “I believe he would go along with it, based on our conversations,” Shelby said of Trump.
But Shelby would still have to scrounge up another $900 million to add to the $1.6 billion that Democrats have already accepted. He's trying to free up $900 million in the current federal budget for the wall, but it's not clear how he'll find it.
Even if he find it, it's not clear Democrats will accept it. They have publicly rejected the two-year wall funding idea, though they have left the door open to a potential deal.
Trump would also have to be willing to accept half the amount he wants, in the hopes another $2.5 billion can be passed next year in the Democratic House.
Another idea Shelby is weighing is to break off funding for the Department of Homeland Security into its own bill, so other less controversial bills can be passed while lawmakers fight over wall funding. But that would only delay the fight.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said this week that the Republicans' only choice is to pass $1.6 billion in wall funding or pass a continuing resolution that level-funds DHS.
But Democrats also appear to be ready for a long-term battle. Schumer has preemptively blamed the possible shutdown on Trump and the Republicans if they push for $5 billion.
Schumer also has another idea that's likely to be rejected by Trump — passing a "bipartisan border security bill,” that is “NOT a concrete wall."
When the House and Senate return next week, they'll have just five days to figure it out.
As thousands of migrants continue to move toward the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump, too, has been unrelenting in his demand for $5 billion in the bill.
"Mexico should move the flag waving Migrants, many of whom are stone cold criminals, back to their countries," he tweeted this week. "Do it by plane, do it by bus, do it anyway you want, but they are NOT coming into the U.S.A. We will close the Border permanently if need be. Congress, fund the WALL!"
sauce: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/no-developments-in-the-border-wall-fight-with-just-days-before-a-shutdown-threat
BREAKING: Senior US Navy Admiral Found Dead in His Residence in Bahrain
Vice Admiral, Commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, Scott Stearney was found dead in his residence in Bahrain Saturday.
No foul play is suspected, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson said in a statement.
Reuters reported:
The U.S. Navy admiral overseeing American naval forces in the Middle East has been found dead at his residence in Bahrain, the Navy said on Saturday, adding that foul play was not suspected.
Vice Admiral Scott Stearney, a Chicago native, was the commander of the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. The Navy did not specify the cause of death.
“The Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Bahraini Ministry of Interior are cooperating on the investigation, but at this time no foul play is suspected,” said Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson, adding that Stearney’s deputy, Rear Admiral Paul Schlise, had assumed command.
US Navy statement on death of Vice Adm. Scott A. Stearny, a devoted husband, and father:
The Navy Times reported:
A Chicago native, Stearney commissioned into the Navy in 1982 and was designated a naval aviator two years later, according to his command biography.
He served in numerous strike fighter squadrons, flying the F/A-18 Hornet for squaddrons 87 and 136.
Stearney led Strike Fighter Squadron 131 and served in Afghanistan as chief of staff of joint task forces there.
Before taking the helm of 5th Fleet in May, he served as operations director for U.S. Central Command.
Prayers for the Stearney family.
sauce: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/12/breaking-senior-us-navy-admiral-found-dead-in-his-residence-in-bahrain/