OnPolitics Today: Empty chairs at not empty tables

Posted by Anonymous on November 29, 2017

with Jessica Estepa

President Trump makes a statement from the Roosevelt

Happy Tuesday, OP friends. Today was filled with political stunts, big court rulings and, of course, North Korea.

So, you know, your basic Tuesday in Washington.

Subscribe here and let's get to it.

Chuck and Nancy aren't so chummy

President Trump wants you to know that he doesn't think Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are playing nicely.

And how best to show that than to have two empty chairs sitting next to him at a meeting that did include the presence of the GOP leadership?

Chuck and Nancy have been all talk and no action, the president said. And now? They're "not even talk."

From the Democrats' perspective, though, the meeting would have been a waste of time. They already knew ahead of time that the president didn't think they would work out a deal to fund the government, thanks to a tweet he sent this morning.

CFBP, meet your new acting director

After a day of drama, the path forward for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a bit more clear. A judge ruled Tuesday that Mick Mulvaney is the new interim head of the agency , blocking a lawsuit from CFBP deputy director Leandra English - who also considered herself in charge of the agency - that challenged Mulvaney's appointment by President Trump.

"Denying the president's authority to appoint Mr. Mulvaney raises significant constitutional questions," U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said.

You may recall that Mulvaney is already the director of the Office of Management and Budget. But don't worry about that, Kelly said. There's nothing in the statutes that prevents him from holding both positions.

More on North Korea

So. North Korea has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, and this one might make you nervous. According to experts, it had the range to reach Washington, D.C. (It didn't actually go very far, according to the Pentagon; it made it about 600 miles before crashing into the sea.) President Trump's reaction: The United States "will take care of it. ... It is a situation that we will handle." And there's an upside: He thinks it will bring his critics back to the table. (See above.)

Elsewhere in politics

•	Deal-making moves Senate Republicans closer to passage of tax reform bill
•	As Republicans seek 50 votes for tax bill, here's what's in play
•	JFK files: Code names for Soviet informants in U.S. named in latest batch of documents
•	Sensitive personal information of 246,000 DHS employees found on home computer