Today kicks off a busy week ahead for the Trump administration in Washington, D.C.
At the top of the list for the president, as he approaches the much talked-about 100 day-mark of his presidency, is keeping the government running beyond Friday, when funding officially runs out. How far is President Trump willing to go to get funding for his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall? Democrats and even some Republicans have said they would not vote for a budget with funding for the border wall in it, and with control of both houses of Congress in Republican hands, it would be challenging if the government did shut down for Republicans to explain how that happened on their watch.
The president, in an interview with the Associated Press last week, said he’d be unveiling a tax reform package this week. It’s unclear exactly what would be in the package and White House officials have given conflicting reports. There was also talk of Republicans rolling out a new plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but Speaker Paul Ryan told fellow Republicans this weekend that this week’s focus should remain passing a budget.
Finally, we’ll touch briefly on the results of France’s presidential election, which is headed for a run-off, and look at the populist movement there in comparison to the one we saw in the U.S. during the 2016 election. We’ll also nod to the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian genocide and what, if anything, President Trump’s administration has said about it.
Guests:
Zachary Courser, research director of the Dreier Roundtable and visiting assistant professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College; he tweets @zcourser
Marisa Abrajano, professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego