Pence says Trump has ‘impression’ that past presidents wanted wall: Vice President Mike Pence has addressed President Donald Trump’s recent claim that former commanders-in-chief privately have said they wanted to build a wall at the Mexican border.

“I know the president has said that that was his impression from previous administrations, previous presidents,” Pence told NBC News correspondent Hallie Jackson.

That came after Jackson asked: “Which former presidents told President Trump, as he said, that he should’ve built a wall? All their representatives have denied that that was the case.”

The implication of Pence’s comment is that “Trump couldn’t distinguish between his own impressions and objectively-held reality,” tweeted Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The New York Times.

Trump is due to deliver a prime-time address to the country about the southern border that will be aired live at 9 p.m. Eastern Tuesday by the major TV networks. The speech will come on the 18th day of a partial government shutdown that has been sparked by a dispute over money for Trump’s proposed border wall.

Democrats to get airtime after Trump speech:The major networks have said they will broadcast the Democratic response to Trump’s Oval Office speech, but it was not clear early Tuesday who would deliver it.

That came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said late Monday that Democrats should be given equal airtime after Trump’s address.

“Now that the television networks have decided to air the president’s address, which if his past statements are any indication will be full of malice and misinformation, Democrats must immediately be given equal airtime,” the two Democratic leaders said in a statement Monday night.

‘Do less press,’ columnist tells Ocasio-Cortez: The consensus on Capitol Hill about new Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn’t pretty, according to Roll Call columnist Patricia Murphy.

“It’s not whether she’ll blow up, it’s how and when,” was one Democratic take on the headline-generating congresswoman from New York, Murphy writes.

“The advice I’d have for new members generally, and AOC in particular, is to keep your head down working in Washington during the week and stay close to your district the rest of the time,” Murphy adds. “File your financial disclosures clean and on time. Do less press and let your colleagues have some oxygen.”

Related:Ocasio-Cortez suggests marginal income-tax rates as high as 70%

And read:Mark Cuban has some advice for Ocasio-Cortez

Virginia Republican Corey Stewart to leave politics: Corey Stewart, the GOP firebrand whose fights to crack down on illegal immigration and preserve Confederate monuments reflected the nation’s increasingly polarized political landscape, is calling it quits after 15 years on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in Virginia, says a Washington Post article.

Stewart, 50, said he will not seek a fourth term as board chair this year and is leaving politics “for the foreseeable future” to focus on his international trade law practice and his wife’s business ambitions. He lost by 16 points to Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine in a November election as Virginia Republicans also lost three U.S. House seats, the Post points out. Stewart said his departure from state politics will last “until and unless the commonwealth is ready for my views on things, and that’s not right now, clearly.”

The revolving door between Capitol Hill and K Street kicks into ‘hyper-spin’ this week: Just days into the new Congress, recently departed lawmakers and aides are announcing new lobbyist gigs, notes a Roll Call report.

Those leaving Capitol Hill for K Street gigs include former Sen. Jon Kyl, the Arizona Republican, in an unusually fast repeat move, the report adds. In addition, former Republican Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Lamar Smith of Texas are joining a law and lobbying firm, and two former senior Senate GOP leadership aides have unveiled a new lobbying shop.