consider legislation to deal with the government shutdown. "q&a,"ay on c-span's noah feldman and his book "the three lives of james madison: genius, partisan, president." >> the constitution is madison's monument. in that way, the monument is all around you. the way internet -- the way the government interacts. all of that is in madison's mind . paul.f as a case with st. if you seek madison's monument in d.c., look around you, and it will be all around you. "q&a" sunday night on c-span. >> this morning, we will take your calls and comments on the government shutdown.

later, politifact's editor angie drobnic holan discusses her group's report on campaign promises made and kept. "washington journal" is next. wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, in this vote, the ayes are 50, the nays are 49. the motion is not agreed to. ♪ host:. vote on the floor of the senate late last night means this morning americans are waking up to their first federal government shut down since 2013. the january 20, 20 18, shutdown comes on the first anniversary of the president taking the oath of office. this morning on the "washington journal," will talk about what

is being impacted, how we got here, and lives ahead. give us a call with your thoughts on the shutdown and the first year of the trump and ministration. democrats can call in at (202) 748-8000. .epublicans, (202) 748-8001 independents, (202) 748-8002. a special line for federal workers. is that number. you can also catch up with us on social media. on twitter, @cspanwj. on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. a very good saturday morning to you. you can start calling in now. we want to hear from you all morning long. and all morning long, we will be joined by c-span's greta brawner on the latest pay where does congress go from here today? guest: the question is what happens here from now? thatmulvaney directing

agency should now execute plans for an orderly shutdown due to the absence of appropriations. lawmakers remain in washington for the weekend. the senate will reconvene at noon today on c-span 2. and of course the house will be gaveling in at 9:00 a.m. here on c-span. we will bring you coverage on both of the floors. the house expected to come in and possibly go back out while they wait for the senate to take action. we will continue here on the "washington journal" with your calls on morning long and your thoughts on the shutdown on the president's first year. republicans were able to peel off some democrats, conservative democrats up for reelection in 2018. also, the new senator from alabama. senator donnelly of indiana. senator heitkamp of north atoka

-- north dakota. senator manchin of was virginia. and senator mccaskill of missouri. however, republicans did not keep their conference in line. there were republicans who voted no. senator jeff flake. senator lindsey graham. and senator mike lee. he also had senator rand paul, who forecasted his no vote early on. senator mcconnell had to vote no as a procedural move. voteate senator jeff flake -- why did senator flake vote no? he tweeted he was promised, in part, a vote on daca in exchange for his yes vote. he tweeted -- my thoughts on

daca, i maintain that the only way to find out what the president supports us to put a bill on the volt -- for an vote on it. they were trying to secure a deal before midnight. they were unable to do so. so we find ourselves in a shutdown. the president up early and tweeting democrats are far more concerned with illegal immigrants than they are with at ourat military southern border. they could've easily made a deal but decided to play shutdown politics instead. we need more republicans in 18 in order to power through this messed, he said. on the said that one-year anniversary of his presidency, the democrats wanted to give him a nice present. asking, these republicans only have 51 in the senate, and they need 60.

win morehy we need to republicans in 2018 election. we can then be even tougher on crime and border and better to military and veterans. republicans were already down one vote, because senator john mccain, battling brain cancer, was absent. host: you saw the president putting the blame on democrats. plenty of polling on who will get the blame for the shutdown. here is one of those in today's "washington post." asking who do you think is mainly responsible for the situation? it on trump and the republicans. 28% putting it on democrats. 18% saying both equally. a few votes with neither or no opinion. senator chuck schumer, the minority leader in the senate, putting the blame on republicans. here is what he said late last night after the vote failed. [video clip] >> every american knows the

republican party controls the white house, the senate, the house. it is their job to keep the government open. it is their job to work with us on a way to move things forward. but they did not reach out to us once on this cr. no discussion, no debate. nothing at all. it was produced without an answer of democratic input and dropped on our laps. meanwhile, they cannot even get on the same page as the party the -- as the party. they control every branch, and it is there responsibly to govern, and here they have failed. several republicans voted against the cr, as well as democrats. for the same reason we voted against it. the most serious consequences of having continuing resolution -- aftersidering

continuing resolution is the damage it does to our military. as the pentagon spokesman said last night, another cr would be wasteful and destructive to our military. the navy secretary said that the the navy has put $4 billion in the trashcan, poured lighter fluid on it, and burnt it. that is the navy secretary. this is no way to conduct the nation's business. know it.ns democrats know it. the american people know that this party is not capable of governing. senator schumer last night on the senate floor. we will show you other comments made during and after that critical vote. we are in a government shutdown. the first since 2013. we want to hear from you, your inughts, this shutdown occur

one year to the day since the president took the oath of office. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. a special line for federal workers, (202) 748-8003. as we show you that live shot of a cold morning here on capitol hill. middleton out in west virginia is up first, line four democrats. -- for democrats. caller: good morning, john. i watched it last night. i was watching while they were voting. they kept waiting for mcconnell to finally change his vote. groupsatching a couple of republicans standing there, talking to each other. and they were laughing about something. this is no laughing matter. you could watch the democrats, and they were not laughing about what was going on. the republicans were laughing. this is unbelievable.

that this is what happens to this country that the republicans can laugh about what they are doing to people. this is people's lives that they are taking. host: virginia, line for republicans. caller: good morning, how are you? host: doing well. caller: my opinion is we pay them to do a job, which they are not doing. they passed a tax bill that will put us deeper in debt to you now, they cannot even pass a bill to govern the government. we, the people -- it is not the party that is the government, it is we, the people that are the government. they are certainly not doing a very good job. host: had you think the president is doing in his efforts to change that, to drain the swamp in his first year in office? caller: i think he should be

fired. i would terminate him in a day. host: did you vote for him in 2016? caller: i did not. and i am a republican. host: who did you support? caller: i wrote my nephew in. [laughter] host: what does your nephew do? caller: he is a cable splicer with verizon. host: that was virginia in waldorf, maryland. a special line for federal workers. we want to hear how you are being impacted. raleigh, north carolina, republican and federal worker. caller: good morning. i am not happy about the shutdown, but i do not live paycheck to paycheck. i am always the in case something happens. i do not know if most people know this, but the federal government shuts down every weekend and on federal holidays.

this past weekend was mlk day. we were shut down for 72 hours. so for people to be running around screaming at the federal government is going to shut down, our agency closes at 4:30 every day. host: what happens if the shutdown is still in place monday? what instructions have you received? caller: we will be going to work. it is just that we are supposed to be paid friday, but we probably will not get the checks. the electronic fund transfers will probably not be made. probably. we are not sure. if that happens, as has always been the case, we end up getting back paid whenever the situation is resolved. host: you feel certain that will happen again? caller: i do not know. and i am not terrified about it, because i have food in my

refrigerator, my mortgage is paid out. i am not terribly concerned. what is concerning to me is that the democrat party, under chuck schumer, thinks that this is a good idea to try -- to prioritize the needs or they wants -- the wants of people who are illegal. they are illegal aliens, brought here illegally. for him to think it is ok to prioritize their needs over the needs of the american people is just wrong. in all the while, -- albemarle, independent. caller: good morning paid i am glad they shut it down. i am a federal tyree. what i am sick of it the lies that come out of people's

mouths. i am a recovering republican. i was a lifelong republican. they can sit there and look at a camera and lie. andlled my senator's office asked what kind of bible they used up there in washington, d.c. they did not think that was too funny. i told them i would send them one, and they ought to read it. anyway, the president is a liar. his republican pals do nothing but support his lies. something has to happen. this is getting ridiculous. host: in terms of what is open and what is not, the "washington -- rundowna round on on how government services would be impacted. recipients of social security, unemployment insurance, food stamps, and other programs would continue to receive benefits. the program spending is not dependent on congress explicitly finding them. however, some processes related to applying for or appealing

these benefits may be stopped. excessivelyeady funded veterans hospitals, so they will not be affected. congress already funded prisons. the courts have at least three more weeks of funding. congress could continue to work. they will be in here today. so some low-level staffers may not get paid. museums and zoos have funding to stay open through sunday but will close on monday. the postal service is an independent agency, so it will not be affected. some passport offices could remain open. those inside federal buildings would close. we will run through more of the update on what will and will not be impacted. of course, that depends on how long this shutdown goes on for. we want to hear your thoughts on this shut down and it coming exactly a year to the day since the president was sworn into office. linda is waiting in new york, republican. go ahead.

are you with us this morning? dwight in fairfield, california, independent. go ahead. morning.ood thank you for taking my call. regarding the government shutdown, i am a u.s. air force veteran. retired federal civil service worker. we have gone through this before. i am a 65-year-old african-american male. the first time i remember us going through a government shutdown was, i believe, under president carter. again under president reagan. again under george w. bush. again under bill clinton. and with president obama. what i am trying to say -- they do this all the time. and we are acting like yo-yos. we get excited about it. they throw this out. the democrats blame the republicans.

the republicans blame the democrats. and we are running around like this guy is falling -- lease guide -- the sky is falling. in february, it will be back to business in washington, d.c., like it always is. the government does not shut down. go toll still be able to school, your checks will still come in. why do we keep believing the hype? independent. am an we are running around like the sky is falling down, and that is not true. host: we are looking at your tweets. "we cannot let foreign nationals our wages,ive down drought of college costs, then tell us what we must do for them or change our laws to sue them and control government policy. shutdown 2018 is all about daca illegals." writes i blame the dems,

who bought gop disinformation and did not vote in 2016. one more from park storm. trump and republican are so inept at governing that it is not unreasonable to say the government will not reopen anytime soon. we will find out perhaps more today when the house and senate are expected to act in to see what the plan is to re-open government, what the way forward could be. we want to hear from you until the house comes in around 9:00. depending on how long they do come in, we may be back with you to take more of your calls. west is up next in virginia. line for democrats. go ahead. caller: yes, i have been a lifelong democrat. seen what happened to our state, i have turned to being a republican. things thatee with

trump is doing. that is the way i feel. host: your senator, joe manchin, voted for this spending plan last night, even though it did not get the votes it needed to move forward. do you hold him responsible? caller: no, i do not. i do not know exactly everything they got to be entitled with. i do not know everything they have to do. but the way i feel is i think he done what he had to do. host: last night on the senate floor, after that vote failed, senator majority leader mitch mcconnell talked about the democrats who voted in favor of this spending plan and voted in favor of moving it forward. [video clip] >> i commend the five democrats voted not to shut the government down. new senator from alabama, during his campaign, said it was -- you listen to the

seven democratic governors who said this is an emergency, we need help. so there were five courageous democrats on the other side who stood up to this ridiculous argument. , toit made sense, somehow sense,n -- that it made somehow, to shutdown the government over and illegal immigration issue that the vast majority of this body would like to do something about anyway. i want to commend the five democrats who had the kurds to stand up to this ridiculous strategy that put their whole in an incredible predicament. because, as the white house just indicated, the president will not talk about the issue at all while the government shutdown. they made it quite clear.

payingen democrats start our armed forces and first responders, we will reopen it negotiations on immigration reform. so this particular strategy has limited the possibility of getting a signature on the thing they shut the government down over. those five democrats, again, joe donnelly of indiana, heidi heitkamp of north the corner, doug jones, alabama, joe manchin of west virginia, claire mccaskill of missouri. five republicans voting no, including jeff flake of arizona, lindsey graham of north mcconnell,nd mitch who had the changes go to a note to give himself the option of bringing another spending plan later. taking your calls this morning on this first day of the government shutdown on the one-year anniversary of the

president taking the oath of office, michelle is in upper , maryland, a federal worker and democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. the issue with the shutdown is not just about me as a federal employee. i will be able to pay my bills. i am married to someone does not work for the government. my bills will be paid. it is not about the bills, it is the mismanagement being played. we have not had a government that's a budget for years and the government. we have been operating on continuing resolution after continuing resolution. you just cannot run programs that way. the government is no longer that wasteland of federal dollars that are not being used for the good of the public. there are no longer agencies with employee sitting around twiddling their thumbs paid ever since reagan and clinton and each successive administration,

republican or government -- republican or democrat, the government has been pared down. we are doing more with less. we have real -- a mission to carry out. true programs we have to administer to the american people. trying to do this with no budget because congressmen and the president want to play political games -- it is hurting our nation. shutdowns are costly. i have been told to come into work monday so that we can shut put it ourt we can voicemail that i am not at work. or to put an out of office message on my email. it is absolutely ridiculous. phone callsf your and just a second. first, more from greta brawner. tost: is go to " -- let's go

"politico's" headline. with hours to spare before the government ran out of money, chuck schumer mitch mcconnell and hour. half the bill to provide 24 more hours to work out a deal. according to senators and aids reached on the talks, republicans expected they would have to concede something to the democratic leader to avoid a shutdown. at that moment, they would have accepted a three week deal, a week shorter than the plan the house had approved earlier. but mcconnell blocked. nonsense, mcconnell replied. he also said he preferred speaker ryan's bill and believed republicans would have the political high ground.

late in the day, the president returned his hard-line immigration stance and a talk with schumer after the two had nearly reached an agreement at the white house. after the clock struck midnight, schumer blamed trump explicitly. -- they would hold the line against schumer and policy. the senate leaders spoke with trump iphone, updating the president on the gop negotiating stance and intention not to budge. ryan and mcconnell agreed. not to seriously entertain offers from democrats that diverged from the house passed month-long spending bill. senator lindsey graham of south carolina shocked the middle round proposal. he entered mcconnell's office around 7:00 p.m. half an hour later, walked into , then back toe

mcconnell's office. while he said he went to schumer's office to eat, some eight said he also pitched a deal to get out of the mess. [video clip] i know the democrats are meeting now. the key, to me, is to shorten the time beyond every 16th, but more than anything else is a genuine commitment by both parties that we are going to find a resolution on all of the issues that are outstanding, including immigration. we are on the 10 yard line, inside the 10 yard line, on everything, including defense spending, disaster relief, it immigration, border security, as well as a pathway forward for the daca population. the key is a commitment to get a are not time.

but it will not work if the will is not their peer for the first time, i sense a desire not only to avoid a shutdown but to find a solution. i may be wrong. time may prove me wrong. but the country has nothing to lose to make one last effort to try. what has changed? everyday day we go towards march 5, the more unstable the daca ovulation's -- the daca populat ion's lives become. the real world needs to deal with the 800,000 daca recipients, and the overwhelming need to rebuild our military and increase funding will get us there. within a month. guest: that was senator lindsey graham. p.m.night around 7:45 eastern time, trying to

negotiate a middle ground. the result is lower -- the result is majority leader mitch mcconnell would agree to hold a vote on the bipartisan plan led durbin, butnd democrats cannot lock down their chief demand, which is to attack -- which was to pack the immigration plan to a must spending measure. gop senators said early this morning that they have gotten a promise from senate leadership to bring a fix for young earlymented immigrants by next month. however, a spokesperson for majority leader mitch mcconnell did not immediately respond to our request for comments. here is senator lindsey graham, senator jeff flake, around 1:30 a.m. eastern time this morning, talking about this deal that could be in place. [video clip] we accomplished.

senator flake has been pressing the body to take up immigration. what more can you ask of the senate then to work its will? the majority leader is willing to commit to taking up immigration on february 8 if we do not reach a deal. and we will start with a base bill that will be subject to amendment, just like the senate is supposed to work. he can not bind the house, told the president what to do, but i am confident once we start -- ting immigration the closer we get to march 5, the more likely we are to get this thing behind us. republican party politics are hanging in the balance here. young people, plus military funding, is pressure for all of us to work together. senator flake received a commitment before the tax vote that we would take up immigration. it has to be a bill that president would agree to. now, i think we got a commitment from the majority leader, february 8 >>.

we've may well be china agreement before that time. if we do not, we have an agreement not to ring up a bill the president supports or -- but a bill the senate can work its will on. >> you cannot ask of the majority leader of the senate to bind the speaker of the house. you cannot bind the president. but you can become the senate. i am encouraged the senate is going to get back in business on immigration. before february 8, we will get a deal. if we do not, we will have a debate worthy of the senate. the more you talk about immigration and what we are trying to do, the more the people will be behind us. to hear morect from senators when they come in at new today. the house expected in at 9:00. we will of course go there for gavel to gavel coverage here on c-span. your phone calls until that time. anthony, new york, line for republicans. good morning. caller: yes.

this shutdown shows that the are not trying to help the u.s. citizens. host: why is that, why does it show that? you just have to listen through your phone. why does it show that? to pamela in fort washington, maryland, a federal worker. line for democrats as well. go ahead. i, john.h good morning. i agree with the caller from .aryland a few calls ago and i disagree with the caller from california. he was a retired, i think, air force. from the air force. a veteran and a federal worker. he said that they -- we have had shutdowns. yes, we have had shutdowns, but the uncommon denominator in this scenario now is the president.

and this dysfunctional congress. folk kind of like military and federal employees being penalized, us low-level employees. we have nothing to do with this mess. if anything, it should be the ones that do not get paid should be congress and the president. congress is in today to question how long the shutdown lasts for members of the military, when they will see their next paycheck. on the front page of the "washington post" today, they look at federal workers as a share of various metro area workforces. though larger the dots, the larger the percentage of the workforce. washington, d.c. of course, more in our major area of

d.c. part of the federal workforce. other places, 16% of the workforce near naval air station in maryland. 50% of the workforce in towns near an air force base in georgia. 13% near a naval base in washington. and ever elsewhere easy large dots, large percentages of federal workers, federal offices will be and remain closed as long as the shutdown lasts, except for essential personnel. we have the line for federal workers. (202) 748-8003. lines for democrats, republicans, an independents otherwise. jean, good morning. caller: good morning. i believe, basically, the republicans are to blame. i think we are missing the point. they have been in office over a

year now. where is the budget? why have they not been able to put the budget together? i think that this is all a smokescreen to do track -- de tract us from that point. they kind of pull at your heartstrings with the kids and people get all involved in that, instead of saying -- you have been in power. you have the power to pass a budget. and you are not doing it. do your job. zynga shutdown, the lack of a budget, gets remembered i election day in november -- do you think the shutdown, the lack of a budget, gets her membered by election day in november? caller: i do not think so, because we keep doing this. it keeps happening. we keep doing this over and over. thele, they do not focus on fact that they have not done their job.

they are supposed to put a budget together. and they have not done it. host: david, west virginia, independent. go ahead. justr: just like the lady said, the house did the budget for the year, but the senate did not. now, it is a great thing they did this -- now, senator mcconnell needs to go ahead and put all of the bills through the next couple of days and vote on them. and hold the democrats responsible. and do not do no more short-term continuing resolutions, a day, a month -- we are for month -- we are a month into the year. either continuing resolution for the rest of the year. it is an election year. they will not play this game the rest of the year. a continuing resolution for the rest of the year or a budget bill. host: why do you think mitch mcconnell is in a better

position now to get those budgets passed in the next couple of days? caller: because now he can get the people and the president to start calling, calling representatives, saying the games are over. that,t a clause in there from now on, at the end of september of every year, if the budget is not done, continuing resolution for the rest of the year until you pass a budget. and congress does not go home until it is done. host: susan, california, line for republicans. caller: yes. i am really upset that the democrats had to hold out for issue.egal aliens have been watching this program now, cnn, the last few weeks, on the proceedings of congress.

we have a president that sat with them last thursday and had a roundtable about how we are going to go forward on this immigration issue. immediately the next day, we had one of the senators attacking the president. it has been awful to see that the democrats will not work with this administration. it has been shown over and over again that they do not like him, they do not want him to succeed, and they will do anything to take him down. happened is they want to have the dreamers become legalized. understand our president is trying to stop this insane immigration that we have been having to live with the last 30 years. if that dream act would have went through on that bill, that it lets people write in. it means another mess for 30 years. takesanother poll on who the blame on the shutdown, this from cnn. this was out yesterday. about half of americans said they would blame either the

president or his republican can parts in congress. 31% -- about a third, 31%, say they would hold democrats in congress responsible. among republicans, 60 2% would blame the democrats, while 43% of democrats would blame republicans. between 9% would blame the president. -- 29 percent would blame the president. on twitter, jim says it does not matter -- republicans were blamed for the 2013 shutdown and one, more seats. seats.won more by shutting down the federal government, that fact will be featured at the woman's march across the nation today. we are covering that, expected to begin around 11:00 this morning did one more tweet -- it is time for compromise.

give dreamers a legal status. it is in you for a moment to shine and deliver. , a is in hawaii this morning federal worker. how is this impacting you out in hawaii? i am notf course, going to work. the big impact is the project we were working on has stopped, which are extremely important to our nation. it is not just me. asis the work we do government employees. host: what kind of work do you do? caller: project management. ringing on new computer systems for dod employees. and the military. their -- everave budget for government shutdown's? do you have a shutdown fund in case this ever happens? caller: my personal budget? i tried to keep several months

offer, but of course, it is not unlimited. personally, i try to keep some extra on hand. host: we had a caller before say she expected that they would get back pay for what is happening, however long this lasts. do you have that expectation as well, that you will get paid back, even if you have to go in? caller: well, if they repeat what they have always done, we will get back paid. of course, i do not know what this current administration will do. i am assuming that congress will to back pass, and the president will agree to that. we just do not ever know. the assumption is that we will. joe, independent. go ahead. caller: you know, i listen to this, and it amazes me. these people that are supporting

the democrats in the protection of these illegal aliens are out of their mind. they need to read their own progressive manifesto so they can see that it is economic delusion. theake and decrease standard of living for all of us americans paying for the whole deal. they need to take illegals and for kids -- i feel bad them, but i have to watch out for us. they need to go. and lindsey graham, if you are listening to me, you are no different then jeff flake. you need to be hung before the sun comes up for treason -- host: all right, we will stop there when it comes to violence against anyone, including members of congress. more of your phone calls, though. greta brawner. guest: let's talk strategy. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell hoped he could peel off of those senate democrats that are up for reelection in 2018. in states where the president

won. i include senator bill nelson of florida, joe donnelly of indianola -- indiana, joe manchin of west virginia, as well as claire mccaskill of missouri. heidi heitkamp of north dakota, and sherri brown in ohio. as well as bob casey in pennsylvania. and debbie stabenow, the democrat from shaken. here are the democrats that voted yes -- five of them -- joe donnelly, senator heidi heitkamp , senator jones of alabama, as well as senator joe manchin and senator claire mccaskill. republicans able to get those states.m trump states where trump co won in 2016. look at the numbers of those 10 states where democrats are up for reelection. this is the percentage of trump's victory in those states.

not able to get all of those democrats, but republicans did get five. as we noted earlier, they were not able to get all of their republicans either. let's talk public relations. the hashtag between trumpshutdown and schumershutdown. senator chuck schumer tweeting out this will be called the trump shut down. there is no one who deserves the this shutdown for more than the president. let's talk about the hashtags. in the last hour, there have been 8400 tweets with the hashtag #schumershutdown. 16,000 tweets with the hasthag #trumpshutdown. those are the numbers, and scientific as they are. unscientific as they

are. schumer pute video out on his thoughts -- [video clip] >> tell me, if you were president, what would you do? simply, you have to get everyone in a room. the president has to lead. the democrats are going to be blamed or the republicans are going to be blamed. i think the president would be blamed. if there is a shutdown, it would be a tremendously negative mark on the president of the united states. he is the one who have to get people together. they're not going to be talking to the house of the -- head of the house was, the head of the senate was. i think the pressure is on the president. #trumpshutdown, #schumershutdown. you can see that on our feet as

well. join in on [video clip] . on facebook, it is facebook.com/cspan. or give us a call, like anthony did in new jersey. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? and i appreciate c-span very much. i feel that the country is sort of being held captive by paul ryan, nancy pelosi, chuck schumer, and mitch mcconnell. it seems that people are more interested in being democrat or republican then being americans. neither side mean -- seems to put the majority of interest of americans ahead of what their political standings are. this is going to continue until people realize that the parties are not the important thing. the nation is. maybe this is unrealistic, but this is what i believe.

host: susan, california, republican. go ahead. caller: hi. to say the reason the democrats are holding out on what they are trying to get accomplished is because first of all, the republicans and trump have proven they make promises and then they lie and do not keep their promises. number two, another thing i see people -- not about children have come across the border without their parents. so they should be given a chance. but this is about the votes. this has been about voter suppression. they do not want democrats having a chance to get their votes. this is one way to get voter suppression. usually, daca and people of color vote democrat.

i see this as voter suppression. host: we have the line for republicans -- caller: ixi came over as a child myself. i became a citizen and work. my son, at 20 years old, bought his own house with no one but himself. these people can take personal responsibility, like i have. blaming trump for the shutdown is not true. he already gave them the freedom to do what we needed to do. they did not. they came out of that meeting, started snitching. like little babies. i used to be a democrat. my whole family is a democrat. but we saw the light. they are the slave owners. they are the socialists and democrats. look at my senator. look at my senators. didn't you hear schumer, pelosi?

these are not americans. we need to stop saying americans. citizens.. host: mike in pennsylvania. go ahead. is i ammy comment pretty awestruck by all of this. my brother voted for trump -- i know the mindset of the trump voter. host: what do you think it is? voted for brother trump. i know this mindset. for my brother, trump was a molotov cocktail. i find it funny that the republicans and trump voters are even upset that the government is shut down, because i thought that is what they wanted. party has always been antigovernment. trump was the molotov cocktail to break the system. you cannot be surprised.

he is breaking it. it is working. host: is your brother happy about the shutdown? caller: yeah. he is fine with it. and i am fine with it, too. need ton both sides realize it or not there to represent the voters anymore. they are there to represent corporations and big money donors. in washington, independent. caller: good morning. i have a couple of things. one is federal employees can call and share with us what they have been doing this week in anticipation of the government shutdown, because we had a recent washington state government potential shutdown. of scuttleas a lot to get ready for that shutdown, which meant that the government workers were not working for the

government. they were working for a shutdown. so it was a lose-lose deal. if some people can share with us what they are doing in this last week, it would be great. host: let's see if aaron can help with that. aaron is a federal worker in virginia. can you answer that? caller: i think the problem is, where the you blame either side, this -- they are both to blame. this is what has plagued us both ears. we will be shutdown now -- even until last night, can we get a four day extension, a four-week extension -- they have to start doing more than that. this is the reality. for american citizens who work for the federal government every several weeks. it is supporting on both sides of these parties. host: how much time did you spend since these cr's started

getting ready for a shutdown as opposed to the work you do every day. i will be honest. we are kind of veterans now. every year we go through this. but the last several days, he had to figure out what do need to do, who goes where -- this is terrifying. they serve their country, come here, work for the federal government, then told, hey, thanks, but you may not be working. and we hope, historically, you would get paid, but you may not. it was not a great time. this time was much quieter, and it was scarier. it is scarier to say i do not know what is happening. and what are we going to do. federal terms of how police prepare, john wright on twitter saying that the epa administrator told employees to show up to work regardless of a federal shutdown. the reporting from three begin reporting on that. the epa saying it has the resources necessary to continue

working through next week, even if there is a shutdown. scott pruitt sent a message to employees friday, advising that the epa had plans to work through the week of january 22, regardless of what happened with that deal. the story noting that prewitt said that the epa would need to reset their resources. the washington post also looking at what happened in other agencies. defense secretary james mattis said about half of the pentagon civilian employees would be sent home without pay. maintenance would cease in some intelligence operations overseas. the commerce department said talking points to managers, telling employees to take office plans home. the irs brace to lose more than half of it workforce just as employees are answering questions about the new tax law. a little more about the jump

page from that story. the interior department officials have gone to extra ordinary links to keep things running, promising to keep open as many parks, national monuments, and other public lands as possible without visitor centers and with a skeleton staff at law enforcement. we will run more or what is happening at federal agencies and see how long this lasts. caplan notes on twitter the saturday session for the senate is federal to take place at noon today to look at couldr acr could -- a cr be taking place with the partial government shutdown in effect. congress will convene for that weekend session today and plans to vote to fund the government perhaps through february 8. course, is in at 9:00 a.m. today here on c-span. we will take you there when they gavel in.

until then, your phone calls on the first day of the government 366th day of the trump presidency. mount vernon, washington, democrat. good morning. caller: hi. actually, independent, but i have been watching this stuff for -- host: how long? i am not listening to you but looking, and you are moving different. i have been watching this for the last few years. sincessue right now, september 30 -- actually, before that. the democrats were trying to get the chip program renewed. the debt limit expired. and then, there was this fear --

i guess it was just for a few months, extending it. they are working on trying to get it, you know, extended for longer. the point is that it is like pushingle year has been stuff that is important and they usually all get along, get together and work on together. host: like the chip program. do you think -- like the chip program. host: do you think the democrats should have taken the deal on the chip program? caller: no, i am actually glad they did it the way they did do it, because they would not have had the chip program. passeduld have been through bipartisan, because everyone was for it to you they could also have been putting the daca dealinto to that was a week ago. so basically, the republicans

made this happen. i agree with one of your last there was thehow tea party and the freedom caucus -- they are more into taking government -- they do not want as much government. they are working against each other. tony, federal worker in florida, also a democrat. go ahead. caller: yes. i agree with the caller from pennsylvania. he said republicans have a government --ern they shut it down in 2013 for two weeks. the irony is the american people is the government. you have to understand, the republicans --

government, and the people is the government. that is the bottom line. host: mark, ohio, independent line. go ahead. caller: good morning, sir. this of all, i am 50-50 on daca stuff. when we-born citizens, break the law, we actually suffer the consequences, whatever they may be. so perhaps we are -- and there should be some type of consequence for the daca people. we just cannot allow people just to invade freely as they have. i do not think they should be sent home either. like i said, i am 50-50 on it. i do not really know what to do about daca. anyway, this republican party bstructing since obama

came into office to the even said in 2010, they did not want him to be president anymore. they had been doing everything they can to ruin the united states, in my opinion. era.a veteran from vietnam countryamed of how this is conducting itself right now. it is ridiculous. that is why i am independent. i vote for people, not parties. i do not care what party you are. if you appear to be a good person, i will vote for you. host: mike in maryland, federal worker. go ahead. caller: how is it going? host: doing well. caller: one point a lot of people may not realize -- a cr creates a great deal of efficiency as well. because when they do a cr, it is

based on the prior year's budget. if you're are in the process of starting a brand-new program for a fiscal year, the funding that gets look at would be from the prior year. obviously, if you have no program going in the prior year, you get nothing. so these programs that are supposed to be starting basically are in a stalemate because they get no funding whatsoever. until an actual budget is passed. shutdown in and of itself is a negative thing, but these crs have been going on for years and years have actually created a major inefficiency within our country. host: that is mike in maryland. in terms of who is to blame for the shutdown, here is another poll -- this poll being reported

on by the "he'll" newspaper. respondents were asked whether they favor or opposed democrats voting to shut the government funding measure does not restore work permits for this protected under the daca program. 58% said they opposed a shutdown. reviews generally fell along an ideological line. 83% of republicans and 65% of independents would oppose a shutdown german by an immigration fight. we have been showing you some of the polling on who is to blame for the shutdown. likely more of that polling going on right now. we will bring it to you in the days to come. this morning, focusing on your thoughts on the shutdown and also on this, the first anniversary of the president taking the oath of office. rob is in new york city, line for democrats.

caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i think this entire year has been a year year of a reality show. i do not think it has been -- it is running a reality show rather than running a government. i think that the reality show is all about what it looks like and soundbites, what it sounds like, what did the president say the topr day in a meeting with -- head politicians? he said "welcome to the studio." think his executive time he is focused on watching the television shows. he is not reading. he is focused on ratings. he is not doing the work of a precedent, and it is almost as if i hear ed mcmahon in the background saying "here's donnie, and tonight, the trump

show showing donald trump, tonight's guest steve bannon." host: what is the reality, then, or is that reality? , i noticed thew spokespeople on behalf of trump, they talk loud, they talk really, they d talk over, they do not enter into dialogue. it is a one-way street, like with reporters and talking directly at you loudly, angry, rudely. there is no discussion. host: we will continue the discussion this morning, all morning long, until the house comes in. it is just after 8:00 of the east coast. the house is expected to come in at 9:00 this morning. we are also getting help from c-span's greta brawner. ta: "the new york times" put

this together, however he senator voted. votes -- 50-49 with one senator not voting, and that being senator john mccain, who is battling brain cancer. on that vote count, sheldon west, the democratic senator, tweeting out this morning -- two one, theways, he says, big vote came, and just as expected. exactly,e count down which means speaker ryan has the worst intel on earth, or he sent over a bill that he knew would fail in the senate -- a very cynical move. -- the senate out floor conversations were productive and bipartisan. no guarantees, but there is a strong chance for a resolution over the weekend with good faith on both sides. it would be good to get this done before folks headed to work on monday. the senate will be reconvening

at noon today, and we will see where this goes. the house will come in at 9:00 a.m. eastern time. you can watch the senate on c-span2. the house here on c-span. so last night, republicans were hoping to get, as we have been saying, more democrats to help them get to 60, because that is what they needed in order to pass the stopgap spending bill to keep the government running. they got five. senator joe donnelly of indiana, senator heidi heitkamp of north dakota, senator jones of alabama, as well as senator joe manchin of west virginia and claire mccaskill in missouri. doug jones tweeting outlets might why he voted yes. "because of c.h.i.p. and the many families in alabama and around the country that would be put out because of a shutdown, i felt compelled to vote yes."

taking over for senator jeff appointed bywas the president. republicans, however, were not able to keep their coalition intact. they lost votes. senator jeff flake of arizona, senator lindsey graham of south carolina, senator mike lee of utah, as well as senator rand paul. that allows him to now bring up a possible compromise if they get there today. we will have to see when they come in to allow a vote on another continuing resolution. the president tweeted this morning, he had a few things to say, saying "democrats are far more concerned with illegal immigrants than they are with our great military safety in our dangerous southern border. they could have easily made a deal, but they decided to play shutdown politics instead.

irepublicansin18." votes inns only had 61 the senate, and they need 60, which is what we do when more republicans in 2018, then we could be tougher on crime, our borders, it even better to our military and veterans. john? host: the president bringing up the first anniversary of him being sworn into office. several of our viewers also bringing up that introverts are as well, @cspanwj if you want to join the conversation. obvious schumer is trying to blame him, and that is backfiring. it is obviously the schumer shutdown. another -- this is what the "art of the deal" looks like in the

white house. a tweet from jeffrey allen -- just more proof we need a more viable third party. both democrats and the publicans want to grant amnesty, despite it being against the best interest of americans, yet they shut down the government because of it. (202) 748-8000, republican spirit (202) 748-8001 -- you can give us a call. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. we had to eagle lake, texas. al caller: is a republican. it was hilarious to watch schumer last night said in his own corner like a throne and have everybody hauler around him just like he wants. he knew that this was not going to happen, so the basic thing buti ban blame schumer,

other top republicans are just as bad, and i voted for trump. it is like taking out the garbage and hold your nose. you had to vote for somebody except who was on the other side. host: al, did you watch the negotiations yesterday? caller: just yesterday evening i watched. i saw it last night late. aboutwhat did you think president trump reaching out to senator schumer, having a one-on-one with him in the white house yesterday? caller: i thought it was good that he was trying to reach out. not sure what was said behind there. they might have been talking golf -- who all knows? [laughs] but it did not help, and i wish out and saycome more things and come out and take the horse by the rains, but he is not doing that, but i still have faith in him.

i still have faith in the republican party, but we have to make some changes. host: that meeting between senator schumer and president trump, the "new york times" writing the invitation was a heart stopping moment for deallicans, a closed-door between mr. trump and the wily democratic master of legislative strategy. senator schumer talks about the meeting. [video clip] sen. schumer: during the meeting, in exchange for strong daca negotiations, i reluctantly put the border while on the table for discussion. even that was not enough to entice the president to finish the deal. many democrats do not want to go that far on the border. many republicans don't, either. but we were willing to compromise with the president to get an agreement.

room, it sounded like the president was open to accept it. iis afternoon, in my heart, thought we might have a deal tonight. that was how far we had come. that is how positive our discussion felt. we had a good meeting. what has transpired since that meeting in the oval office is indicative of the entire to mulch was and chaotic process republicans have engaged in in the negotiations thus far. even though president trump seemed to like an outline of the deal in the room, he did not press his party in congress to accept it. speaker ryan and leader mcconnell, without the commitment of the president, would not agree to accept anything, peter. -- either. what happened to the president trump who asked us to come with

a deal and promised that he would take peace forward? what happened to that president? he backed off at the first sign of pressure. deal onhe outline of a tax, we have the outline of a deal on health care, we had an outline of a deal on immigration, the toughest issue. it was real, it was on honest-to-goodness breakthrough. we could have passed a short-term extension of funding so that we could cross the t's, with iti's, and be done all, but the dynamics of the last few weeks, during which congressional republicans looked for guidance,nt and the president provided nine, prevails again today. host: one follow-up on a that conversation between chuck schumer and president trump, or into sam stein, a daily beast thatter, he tweeted out

according to one of his sources, it was general kelly who called schumer to say the outline of the deal was "too liberal." sam stein putting that out last night and we want to hear from you on his first day of the federal shutdown on the one-year anniversary of president trump taking office. james is in florida, a federal worker and a democrat. james, good morning. caller: good morning. this is james. this thing is a trip. we have a republican-led congress as well as a white house. we had a lot of republicans who jumped ship because they did not like the deal. we had a lot of democrats who took a stand. the people said "we don't want our workers being hurt," because we do not have federal contingencies in our budget. we have a lot of people we are taking care of -- our six

family members, we have car notes, we have more just to pay, and we are the ones who are being hurt while they are among themselves or duane to put people in the white house who will negotiate and told the party line and get together and get things done for the american people. host: another federal worker, dawn is in massachusetts, a federal worker. don, go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. host: go ahead, sir. caller: yes, i was in the military for 20 years, and i was working as a federal employee for 20 years now. i have been through all the federal shutdowns. at this time, this is a schumer shutdown. he did not say what he was negotiating with his wall deal with the president. and i want to talk to all the federal employees. on a one week, one day, for two weeks that you are going to get

paid, your pay will be less than $300 to $500, depending on your pay scale. all you have to do is raise your exemptions to eight or nine, and you will not be paying any money into federal taxes, and you will have the money that you need in your pay. that is all you have got to do is raise your exemptions. host: that is don's advice this morning, a federal employee. molly on the line for democrats. go ahead. [indiscernible] my husband was a federal employee, but he died 10 years ago, so i want to know if i will get his pension, which i am entitled to. we can certainly look into that for you. linda in south carolina, a republican. good morning. caller: good morning.

first of all, our president is doing a great job. he had a great white house meeting with a bipartisan group. and grahamy, durban show up at the white house with a bill totally for illegal immigration, against american citizens, and of course the president does not accept such an insult to the american people. the dems and schumer shutdown the government with a little help from graham, lee, paul, and flake, all of whom are in favor of shutting down americans and shafting americans in favor of illegal immigrants. just more of your calls in a second, but for now, more from greta brawner. guest: let's talk a little bit more about those negotiations

between minority leader chuck schumer of new york and president trump. early yesterday, the minority leader when over to the white house. politico reports mr. schumer a few more days of government funding would give him an trump enough time to reach an agreement, but the president called tremor twice after the lunch with second thoughts come asking for a longer funding bill and disparaging other immigration provisions. it turns out that the gop leaders had trump's ear at least as much as schumer did. trump also told schumer he needed to work out an agreement with mcconnell and ryan. that killed in he among democrats that schumer could persuade the president to make concessions on expiring deferred action for childhood arrivals program. they also note in politico that i did not stop the lawmakers from trying to compromise. senator graham shop for middle ground with proposals from rank and file.

he wanted to mcconnell's office, a half-hour later, he wanted to schumer's suite. hold all would agree to vote on the floor perhaps on a duly immigration proposal as well in the coming days, but democrats could not locked down her cheeks demand what, which was to a tax cut immigration -- lock down their chief demand, which was a tax cut for immigration. reportersake told "adopt a bill to give vote by february 8." here is majority leader mitch mcconnell on the floor early this morning after that vote failed to keep the government up and running. here is what he had to say about a possible deal going forward. [video clip] sen mcconnell.: i will be offering an amendment to change the date to february 8.

not be unfortunately able to get a vote tonight, but i will be subsequently asking. at some point, we will be voting on february 8, and that is the been talkinghave about, the democratic leader and i have been talking about, which begins to move a little bit friends onhere our the other side said they wanted to be. but a reasonable period of time that takes into account the state of the union, the party conferences, and just the amount of time it takes to actually write a bill once you have an agreement. i mean, you cannot just reach an agreement and snap your fingers and everything falls into place and you are ready to go. toa reasonable period first-degree and then to write thiset ready to pass

negotiated settlement that we are working on for months, february the eighth is a very reasonable time. host: we are expecting to hear more from senators and house members when both house and senate come in today. the house is expected in in about 45 minutes. the senate expected in at new today. we want to hear your call today on "washington journal." gen is in kansas, a retired federal employeee. gene, go ahead. caller: hi there. first of all, i want to say i am proud of everything the president has accomplished, but the thing that bothers me the most is the speeches. things they want to do, both parties, to stand up and give a 10-minute speech, and they think anybody is listening, and they are not.

the whole solution to the shutdown is for them to implement, which would be very easy, implement a third-party, all of the eliminate arguing and the green. it just means that with a third-party, most likely independents, whichever way the independents voted, whether it was to approve the bill or disapprove the bill, it makes no difference, but the subject would be over, and the bill would either be passed or failed if they had a third-party implemented in the house and the senate. it was supply all the bickering and all the speeches, and they would just present a bill, vote on it, and whichever two parties, the democrats and independents or the republicans and independents, whichever to voted to pass -- or to approve or disapprove the bill, then the solution, you know. host: got your point.

a retired, also federal employee. go ahead. caller: good morning, john. please give me at least a full minute. [laughs] caller: i tried calling last night for hours into the morning. somebody last night made a comment about nonessentials. well, if they are not essential, why do they even bother coming back? working 22 days as an essential employee and doing the work of a nonessential employee, i worked in the u.s. attorney's office on the criminal side, and we were considered essential, and the civil side were considered non-essential, although some stay on the civil side, so not only did i work for the criminal attorneys, i also worked for the civil attorneys. so this idea that nonessentials, just because they are, you know, nonessential and have to go home, they are actually

essential. so for the people last night who said that, that was really disappointing. but my main point is work matters, and president trump set us back in september -- the country needs a good government shutdown, so he is getting what he wanted. program, the c.h.i.p. orrin hatch aggravated me when he made the comment well, i am willing to help people who want to help themselves -- they are children! this is unbelievable that they are doing this. host: can i -- let me finish. let me finish. as far as essential and nonessential, i worked 22 days not knowing if i was going to get a paycheck. there is lack time. it is two weeks at a time. this was over 20 years ago, it was 5, 6 weeks by the time we got caught up with our paycheck. host: let me ask a question on that -- how do federal employees

feel about that label, being called essential or nonessential? caller: i took offense to the woman last night that made the comment and said "well, if they are not essential, i guess we do not need them, they will come back." people are so close minded. it is ignorance. knowdo not even want to what we people out here who have experienced this -- i was made to come into work every day for 22 days, and i had to work for usa's, juggling unbelievable pressure. even on the civil side of the united states attorney's office, there are deadlines in court. they represent the v.a. this is what is happening. the v.a. will be affected because the civil side of the u.s. attorney's offices -- we are not going to be there. maybe a couple attorneys will be

there because their cases are essential, so the nonessential support people are sent home, and the essential support people, the one to work on the werenal side, we ultimately responsible for getting work done on the civil side. host: thanks for walking us through it. eric is in compton, california, a democrat. good morning. eric, are you with us? mary is in baltimore, maryland, and independent. mary, go ahead. caller: hi. i have a question for disabilities. to be affected immediately, or, you know, also federal employees' paychecks -- because we live paycheck to paycheck? you are talking about social security disability insurance? yes, also, my father lives paycheck to paycheck. my husband is a federal employee, too. theirngton post" with

chart on this today, recipients of social security, unemployment insurance, food stamps, other programs will continue to receive benefits during a shutdown. the program spending is not explicit on congress' funding, however, some processes related to applying for appealing to those benefits may be stopped. in terms of government facilities, most federal departments and agencies would be shut down, and employees sent home. we had a question from a viewer earlier about retirement benefits for federal employees. this is what the "washington post" has to say about that -- the shutdown would not affect future retirement benefits for current employees unless it drags on much longer than any past shutdown. for current retirees, payments come from a trust fund that would not be affected by a lapse in appropriations. the retirement processing

function of the office of personnel management is also not funded through appropriations, so they would continue as normal. federal retirement annuities will be received on the first business day of each month, which in this case would be cut or a first. sheila is in -- would be february 1. sheila is in maryland. caller: i will tell you, i am very angry. i am proud of my president for standing strong on the guidelines that he is looking for for immigration. believe that the democrats should have tried to tie the doctor deal to -- the daca deal to this government funding. i think what makes me an great angry here is there are thousands of people in the united states of america have lost their children, some of illegalbs to immigrants. thatwas an obama program

was an illegal executive. they were not promised amnesty. this was temporary. i do not have a problem with the 800,000 staying here, but the bill that dick durbin brought to the president after that open meeting, where it was clearly -- and i watched that -- they told him "we need to address chain migration, the portable, it also the -- the border wall, and also the visa lottery," and he came back with a deal. they wanted to bring the parents back of these illegal immigrants, to give them amnesty. what was in the first arrangement by dick durbin. they wanted to have the immigrants from el salvador get rid of their temporary, you know, to give them more time for the temporary status protection, and they had a $1.6 billion --

not $18 billion -- with therections, and i think was something in there about the visa lottery. but you know, when people come here under chain migration, blowup sidewalks, and they try to blow up a subway station, the president is trying to protect the american people. host: scott in arlington, texas, a retired federal employee. go ahead. caller: yes, sir. like one of your previous caller s, i am also former military. for me, talking essential or nonessential, is after one of the last shutdowns, members of congress could not get out of -- so they could get out of town after not accomplishing anything. and of course the president has his own modes of transportation, so they do not have to put up with all of the stuff.

there were caught unawares after the previous shutdown. host: more of your calls coming up, but first, greta brawner. guest: lawmakers want to get out of town, well, they have not left yet he or they are sticking around washington to see what happens next. david kustoff, republican of tennessee, said it is shameful that democrats are putting politics over national security. i voted for the c.r. because we must find our military and c.h.i.p. i voted to give the government opened as west tennesseans sent me to washington to solve problems, and i will continue to do just that. vote.7, largely partyline sheila jackson lee, a democrat of texas, i am ready and willing to do the work to open the government, but republicans are doing nothing to put an end to the #trumpshutdown. jim banks, a republican of indiana -- "senate democrats chose to shut the government over daca, which is not expire

until march. this reckless decision will hurt our men and women in uniform and create unnecessary chaos. let's prioritize those who serve our country over those who entered our country illegally." control -- you yvette clarke wrote "republicans controlled the white house, the house of representatives, the senate. they own this." representative andy barr -- "last night, senate democrats made the choice to strip funding from the children's health insurance program and deny our troops the support they deserve through the #schumershutdown." onkothanks- to-remember as we approach a --

hour, there have been almost 20,000 tweets with the #trumpshutdown. there have been a little over 8600 with the #schumershutdown, so obviously democrats and republicans playing public relations games here, hoping that those hashtags pick up. story in politico about the relationship between majority leader mitch mcconnell and minority leader chuck schumer. they say it has now hit rock-bottom. the senate leaders started out with high hopes for improving how the chamber operates, and settin and instead it has been e year of slights and one-upsmanship. the two were off to a rocky start when schumer voted against mcconnell's wife for a cabinet post, a move that stunned senators in both parties.

mcconnell blocked a supreme court nominee, part of an effort to control the makeup of high court. schumer has slowed many of the nominations the president has sent to the senate and blocked the spending priority. usingell countered by every parliamentary rule he can pushing through a tax cut. but it is schumer's vote against elaine chao that is seen as a pivotal moment by some senators. "you do not have any transportation projects up in new york?" mcconnell told schumer moments after he cast his vote. "that was totally uncalled for," he said about schumer's vote. "i still don't understand that one. i mean, i have heard him explain it to me, but i still do not ."derstand your cod john? host: the house is coming in at

9:00. the senate is in at noon. craig caplan with a quick factoid on the saturday senate session. the last time there was a saturday senate session was may 23, 2015. to extend the usa freedom at. the session started just afternoon and ended at 2:00 a.m. we will see what happens on capitol hill. this morning on "washington journal," we are taking your calls on the one-year anniversary of president trump taking office. laura is in austin, texas, a federal worker and a democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. let me say right off the bat that i am angry at both parties. i mean, i do my best to do my i give good sure service to the american people and to my country, and i get playedd and games are with my life by these people who continue to draw a paycheck, and frankly it is not fair. it is not fair, it is not

ethical, and if i could do it right now, i would fire every one of them. this is unconscionable, and frankly i think we need to basically cut off their pay in the same manner that they have cut off our pay. creeksam is in coconut on the line for democrats. sam, good morning. sam, are you with us this morning? more of your phone calls in just a second. as we noted, it is the one-year anniversary of president trump taking the oath of office. on this anniversary date, i want to bring in angie drobnic holan, editor of politifact, the independent fact checking organization, to talk about how politicized is his first year.