Pelosi tells Trump he can’t deliver the State of the Union until the government opens, Trump advisors tell him the shutdown is hurting the economy, Kirsten Gillibrand announces for president, Sherrod Brown announces he’s exploring a bid, and Beto O’Rourke takes a road trip to help him decide. Then the Atlantic’s Natasha Bertrand talks to Dan about Attorney General nominee William Barr’s confirmation hearings, and the latest in the Mueller investigation.

Show Notes:

Shutdown continues

• New York Times: Pelosi Asks Trump to Reschedule State of the Union Amid Shutdown
• Washington Post: Pelosi’s bold letter about postponing Trump’s State of the Union, annotated
• Washington Post: Pelosi asking Trump to postpone his State of the Union is her latest power play in this shutdown impasse
• The Atlantic: Nancy Pelosi’s Power Move on the State of the Union
• Washington Post: Did Pelosi actually disinvite Trump from giving the SOTU address? Not exactly
• The Atlantic: Nancy Pelosi Is Winning She beat George W. Bush on Social Security privatization, and she’ll beat Trump on the wall.
• New York Times: Obama Moves Jobs Speech After Skirmish With Boehner
• Washington Post: Plumline: Pelosi is right to say no to Trump’s speech. Because things are not normal.
• New York Times: Shutdown’s Economic Damage Starts to Pile Up, Threatening an End to Growth
• New York Times: A Typical Federal Worker Has Missed $5,000 in Pay From the Shutdown So Far
• New York Times: Why Don’t Unpaid Federal Workers Walk Off the Job?
• CNBC: California’s economy could suffer if the government shutdown drags into February
• CNN: WH economic adviser says damage to economy from shutdown is a ‘little bit worse’ than predicted
• CNN: Federal contractors strain to stay afloat as shutdown grinds on
• Politico: Shutdown strains U.S. diplomacy around the world
• Wall Street Journal: Pelosi Asks Trump to Delay State of the Union Address
• Vox: Shutdown update: some moderate Republican senators are starting to signal a break with Trump
• Washington Post: Most Americans oppose the wall — and oppose ending the shutdown by funding it
• Washington Post: Ann Coulter justifies shutdown: A wall is worth more than ‘the Yosemite gift shop being open
• FiveThirtyEight: The Shutdown Is Hurting Trump’s Approval Rating. But Will It Hurt Him in 2020?
• Axios: This is why the shutdown won’t end
• Politico: ‘The gang concept almost never works’: Senators struggle to end shutdown
• The Atlantic: Trump’s Chief Shutdown Negotiator Is Unknown to Most Americans – Shahira Knight is one of the most important policy staffers in the White House. The shutdown is proving to be her greatest challenge yet.
• Politico: Bipartisan Senate group presses Trump to end shutdown
• The Hill: Bipartisan group of senators will urge Trump to reopen government for 3 weeks
• CNN: Democrats decline White House meeting on shutdown: ‘It’s kind of a mess’
• Associated Press: Super Bowl planners: Shutdown brings ‘uncharted territory’
• Vox: A guide to air travel during the government
• Wall Street Journal: What to Know About Airport Security During the Government Shutdown
• CNBC: GOP Sen David Perdue: If Trump agrees to reopen government, then ‘where’s the leverage’ for him to get his wall?
• Washington Post: The shutdown is giving some Trump advisers what they’ve long wanted: A smaller government
• Washington Post: Power Up: Missing in action McConnell suggests no shutdown deal in sight
• Washington Post: Why is the GOP sticking with Trump on border wall? Look at the 2020 Senate map.
• Politico: McConnell tightens grip with Senate GOP amid shutdown
• The Hill: Ocasio-Cortez and freshmen Dems seek out McConnell in bid to end shutdown
• Huffington Post: Mitch McConnell: ‘I Am The Guy That Gets Us Out Of Shutdowns’

2020

• New York Times: Kirsten Gillibrand, New York Senator, Joins Democratic Race for President
• Washington Post: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand tells Stephen Colbert she will run for president
• Washington Post: Kirsten Gillibrand’s 2020 policy agenda: Universal paid family leave, publicly funded elections, improving gender and racial equality
• New York Times: Gillibrand Road Tests 2020 Campaign Themes, at a Diner Close to Home
• FiveThirtyEight: How Kirsten Gillibrand Could Win The 2020 Democratic Primary
• Center for Public Integrity: 9 things to know about Kirsten Gillibrand
• Vanity Fair: Kirsten Gillibrand Just Announced Her Presidential Bid on The Late Show
• New Yorker: Kirsten Gillibrand and the “Late Show” Presidential Straw
• CNN: Welcome to the Stephen Colbert primary
• Washington Post: On Day One, Kirsten Gillibrand faces the ‘likable’ question
• Huffington Post: Kirsten Gillibrand Asked Sexist Likability Question At Her First 2020 Press Event
• Vox: Kirsten Gillibrand announces a 2020 presidential exploratory committee
• CNN: Women have already made history in the 2020 Democratic
• Los Angeles Times: A dilemma for Democratic hopefuls: Run to — or away from — big donors
• CNBC: Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand gauges Wall Street executives’ interest in backing a potential 2020 presidential run
• Associated Press: Sen. Sherrod Brown to tour early states before 2020 decision
• Cincinatti Enquirer: Sherrod Brown heads to Iowa and New Hampshire, closer to presidential run
• Daily Beast: Sherrod Brown Announces ‘Dignity of Work’ Tour of Early Primary States
• NPR: Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown Moves Closer To Joining 2020
• Buzzfeed: Donald Trump’s Allies Are Going After Sherrod Brown’s Journalist Wife
• Washington Post: Beto O’Rourke’s immigration plan: No wall, few specifics
• Washington Post: Does Beto O’Rourke have something to say?
• CNN: This interview shows why all the Beto buzz might be a bit overblown
• Fox News: Beto O’Rourke mocked after offering few answers in wide-ranging policy interview
• Washington Post: Want to win the 2020 nomination? Maybe wait a bit before announcing.
• Associated Press: How long can Beto O’Rourke wait as 2020 pace picks up around him?
• Bloomberg: Beto, Bernie and Biden Keep Iowa-Caucus Democrats in Suspense
• Politico: Beto skips town while his brain trust sketches 2020 plans
• Medium: Beto’s road trip
• New York Times: Would You Like to See Your Presidential Candidate Floss?
• Washington Post: Beto O’Rourke went to the dentist — and brought his Instagram followers with him
• Axios: Beto’s dentist video shows how online myths are born

Natasha Bertrand

• Empty Wheel: WILLIAM BARR’S ASYMMETRIC CONFUSION ABOUT SHITTY MUELLER REPORTING
• Empty Wheel: WILLIAM BARR FALSELY DENIES HIS MUELLER MEMO MAKES THE CASE FOR IMPEACHMENT
• The Atlantic: Barr May Do Exactly What Trump Wants
• New Yorker: William Barr and Why Democrats Shouldn’t Expect This Era to Be Anything Like Watergate
• New York Times: The Integrity of William Barr
• ABC News: Old Friends: William Barr and Robert Mueller may work together again, in a very different time
• Washington Post: The Russians know exactly what Putin and Trump talked about, but we probably won’t find out for decades
• Vox: The weekend’s Trump-Russia news, explained
• BBC News: US press in decline over claims Trump worked for Russia – Moscow
• CNN: Senate Democrats’ effort to block Trump move on Russia sanctions fails
• New York Times: Trump and Putin Have Met Five Times. What Was Said Is a Mystery.
• The Atlantic: Bill Barr Breaks With Trump on the Mueller Probe
• The Atlantic: Maria Butina’s Defiant Plea and Yet Another Russian Ploy
• The Atlantic: Mueller’s Memos and the Alleged Lies of the Trump Lieutenants
• The Atlantic: Manafort’s Own Lawyers May Have Hastened His Downfall
• The Atlantic: Is Manafort Angling for a Pardon?
• The Atlantic: Michael Cohen Pays the Price for His ‘Blind Loyalty’ to Trump
• The Atlantic: A Surge in Foreign-Influence Prosecutions
• The Atlantic: Mueller’s Sentencing Memo for Flynn Doubles as a Warning to Manafort
• The Atlantic: The Special Counsel Is Bearing Down on Roger Stone
• The Atlantic: The President Humiliates His Own Department of Justice
• The Atlantic: FBI Agents Say the Shutdown Is a Threat to National Security
• The Atlantic: Michael Flynn’s Lawyers Appear to Have Badly Miscalculated