Trump-free Friday politics roundup: Feb. 9

More memos, more shutdowns, and another White House resignations. At least we still have tacos in this week’s politics roundup

More deadlines, more problems

On Wednesday, Senate leaders from both major parties agreed on a spending deal that will add many billions of dollars to military and domestic programs. This agreement is also set to raise the federal debt limit, which many hope will end the financial battles that have plagued Congress in recent months.

In particular, military funding about increase by $80 billion this year, and another $85 billion in 2019 beginning Oct. 1. Domestic programs not related to defense would receive $63 billion and then $68 billion the following year.

Seems simple enough, but there are many complications. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi completed a potentially record-breaking 8-hour speech that, in short, pointed to continued problems with immigration law.

This particular agreement, she argued, does nothing to push forward that debate in a meaningful way. It certainly doesn’t support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a favorite of many Democratic lawmakers and their constituents.

The agreement between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer comes on the heels of yet another threatened government shutdown.

A twist in the story

Members of the Senate are set to vote on the measure soon. However, the measure is expected to have a rougher time of it in the House, Representatives from both sides of the aisle have expressed discontent with its contents, especially with the high budgets for military spending and more.

That would be more or less the case if it weren’t for Senator Rand Paul. Early on Friday, the federal government entered its second shutdown in less than a month after Paul held up the Senate budget vote. “I want people to feel uncomfortable,” he said. “I want them to have to answer people at home who said, ‘How come you were against President Obama’s deficits and then how come you’re for Republican deficits?’”. Whether Paul’s actions are a stunt or have the flickering of integrity depends in part on who you ask.

Only six hours later, Congress passed the two-year deal, voting 71-28 in favor of the bill  The federal government is now funded for the next six weeks.

Another White House official resigns

White House staff secretary Rob Porter resigned from his position on Wednesday after allegations of abuse were made against him by two former wives. According to sources within the White House, Porter’s security clearance was delayed in part because of these charges.

Unlike some of the other White House resignations in recent months, you may not have heard of the person in question until just now. However, despite his lack of press and inconsistent clearance, Porter held an important position within the administration. As staff secretary, he helped to control the movement of papers to the Oval Office itself — clearly, a vital and potentially powerful role.

Porter’s case does have parallels with other fallen members of the presidential administration. As a compatriot of the chief of staff John Kelly, in addition to being a Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar, Porter looked to be a rising star.

However, a year into his tenure, he had still not gained the permanent security clearance that was standard for his role. Now, it appears that this delay is due in part to physical abuse outlined by both ex-wives. Porter said that these allegations were “vile claims” and that he “will not further engage publicly with a coordinated smear campaign”.

Despite his claims of innocence, Porter’s resignation still stands. Kelly reportedly urged Porter to remain. He has recently released a statement praising Porter, which reads, in part: “Rob Porter is a man of true integrity and honor and I can’t say enough good things about him”.

Everyone has a memo now

If someone releases a third memo regarding the Russia investigation soon, maybe we’ll unwittingly cast a powerful magic spell that will release a bunch of dragons or an evil sorcerer overlord. One can only hope.

As you may recall, the Republican-led memo (backed largely by California Rep. Devin Nunes) was released last week. Reception has been mixed. Some say that it vindicates the White House from allegations of collusion. Meanwhile, others say its too biased to be useful.

Democrats promised that there is another memo, penned by Rep. Adam Schiff, that presented a counterpoint to the Nunes memo. However, the House Intelligence Committee only approved to release the Republican document.

This isn’t entirely a partisan move, given that both memos need to go through a review process to eliminate security concerns. Intelligence officials do not want memos, interviews, hearings and so on to reveal their methods. Even if the contents of these documents are relatively boring, they could still reveal methods used by intelligence agencies.

Still, with the Democrat memo currently in review, suspicions are high. White House chief of staff John Kelly has told reporters that “this one is a lot less clean” compared to the Nunes memo. He also stated that officials like Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Chris Wray will ultimately give the president their own recommendations on the Schiff memo.

Russia cozies up with Libya

While many within the United States are caught up in the drama about memos and resignations, potentially larger issues are brewing worldwide. Recently, attention has turned towards Russia’s presence within Libya.

In 2011, during the Obama administration, the U.S. intervened in Libya via a NATO operation that deposed dictator Muammar el-Qaddafi. The resulting power struggle left the country in chaos, with two opposing governments claiming leadership. One is backed by most of the international community, including the United States. The other is led by General Khalifa Haftar. This chaos also allowed for terrorist forces to move in, including the Islamic State.

For all of the ensuing disorder, however, the U.S. has yet to produce a complete plan for interacting with Libya. Should the U.S. stay out of the conflict, or should it continue to fight the Islamic State there? The U.S. president has expressed both positions (and more) on different occasions.

Meanwhile, Russia has taken this opportunity to begin exerting its influence in the region. Its government has been playing nice with the forces led by General Haftar. This includes sending officers and advisers to forces in Libya. Russia has also supplied Haftar’s government with spare mechanical parts and medical help.

And, finally, your palate cleanser

There are plenty of things like memos and ominous Russian scheming flooding your brain. With all that, it might be easy to think that the world is a dark and terrible place. We’re not convinced yet, though. For one, there are still tacos.

This isn’t just about delicious food, however — it’s also about building community. That’s what #TacoTrucksAtEveryMosque is all about. Organized by Rida Hamida and Ben Vasquez, this effort has been making the rounds in Orange County, California.

Next: Trump-free Friday politics roundup: Feb. 2

The structure is relatively simple. Taco trucks pull up outside of mosques. When religious services let out, they serve free halal tacos to everyone.

Is this a small gesture? Maybe, maybe not. Hamida says that they’ve served around 7,300 people. That’s a program that’s only been around since the summer of 2017. Plus, they’ve been getting some good press for other events like high school lectures and community programming.