Shutdowns Are a Part of GOP Brand

“This is so basic and runs so deep that people ignore it. But it’s worth repeating: shutdowns are part of the Republican brand. The facts, in this case, show the GOP is at fault. But even if they didn’t, even if the facts showed the opposite, the GOP would still have a hard time because again: shutdowns are part of the Republican brand. They invented them as a policy and legislative cudgel. They’ve used them consistently under Democratic presidents. And because Republicans are generally inimical to the idea that government is a positive force in people’s lives and valorize dramatic and high stakes political gambits they have consistently embraced the concept and strategy of government shutdowns.”

Josh Marshall

Trump’s Record-Setting Year — for Staff Turnovers

34%

NPR: “If President Trump’s first year in office seemed chaotic from a staffing perspective, there’s a reason. Turnover among top-level staff in the Trump White House was off the charts, according to a new Brookings Institution report. … Turnover in Trump’s first year was more than triple that in former President Barack Obama’s first year, and double the rate in President Ronald Reagan’s White House. A full 34 percent of high-level White House aides either resigned, were fired or moved into different positions in this first year of the Trump presidency.”

Majority Now Strongly Disapprove of Trump

57%

A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds 39% of Americans approve of President Trump’s job performance — “the lowest mark in the poll’s history for any modern president ending his first year. … Fifty-seven percent disapprove of Trump’s job, including a majority of respondents — 51% — who now say they strongly disapprove, which is a record high for Trump in the survey.” A new USC-Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll finds just 32%, approved of Trump’s job performance, compared with 55% who disapproved and 12% who were neutral.