Sunday: Mulvaney, Collins, Manchin, Margo, Passero
After weeks of refusing to end the federal shutdown "until we have a wall," President Trump yielded Friday to growing demands to reopen parts of the government which have been unfunded since December 22nd. This week, widespread delays across America's airports due to staffing shortages became the latest casualty of the 36-day impasse, America's longest in history.
But the president threatened that relief would be temporary for some 800,000 unpaid federal workers, and millions more relying on services paralyzed by the shutdown, without a "fair deal from Congress."
"The government will either shut down on Feb. 15, again, or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and Constitution of the United States to address this emergency," President Trump declared from the Rose Garden, if lawmakers did not finance his long-promised wall.
The deal stole headlines, briefly, from a day otherwise dominated by the dramatic pre-dawn arrest of longtime Republican operative Roger Stone. Special counsel Robert Mueller has charged the former Trump campaign adviser of lying to federal authorities in concealing his role seeking emails hacked from Hillary Clinton's campaign.
Stone has rejected the allegations as politically motivated, pledging not to "bear false witness against the president or "make up lies to ease the pressure on myself." But Mueller's move complicates an already harrowing week for the president's legal team, after former Trump fixer Michael Cohen initially postponed his congressional testimony citing "ongoing threats" from the president and current Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.
And amid escalating political unrest roiling Venezuela in recent days, the Trump administration began late Thursday to evacuate its "non-emergency" staff from the South American nation.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro this week demanded the United States pull out its diplomats, after President Trump moved to recognize the country's opposition leader as interim president. Asked about the "military option" he threatened last year to unseat Maduro, President Trump left the door open.
"All options are on the table," the president said.
For news and analysis on the week that was, don't miss Margaret Brennan (@margbrennan) on "Face the Nation" (@FaceTheNation).
We'll talk with the president's budget chief Mick Mulvaney (@MickMulvaneyOMB), the acting White House chief of staff.
Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) will join us. The Maine Republican is a key moderate voice on the Senate's appropriations and intelligence committees.
Across the aisle in the Senate Appropriations Committee, we'll sit down with Sen. Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin). The West Virginia Democrat is also a key member of the Senate's Armed Services Committee.
We'll hear from two mayors that were in the crosshairs of the shutdown crisis: Dee Margo (@mayor_margo), the Republican mayor of El Paso, Texas, and Michael Passero (@MEP41), the Democratic mayor of New London, Connecticut.
And as always, we'll turn to our panelists for some perspective:
- Molly Ball (@mollyesque) of Time magazine
- Ramesh Ponnuru (@RameshPonnuru) of National Review and Bloomberg Opinion
- David Sanger (@SangerNYT) of The New York Times
- Shawna Thomas (@shawna) of Vice News
On television, the radio, and streaming online, don't miss "Face the Nation" on CBS this weekend! Click here for your local listings.
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