Trump may punt wall fight to 2019

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TRUMP MAY PUNT WALL FIGHT TO 2019: President Donald Trump may delay the fight over border wall funding until next year, two sources familiar with the negotiations tell POLITICO’s Eliana Johnson, Burgess Everett and Rachael Bade.


“While the specifics of that offer are unclear, Republicans on Capitol Hill are increasingly considering a two-week stop-gap that would fund the government into January,” the trio writes.

As of Friday afternoon, Trump hadn’t formulated an offer to Democratic leaders; he planned to discuss it first with his White House legislative affairs director, Shahira Knight and his Office of Management and Budget director (and incoming acting chief of staff) Mick Mulvaney. White House senior adviser Stephen Miller reiterated Sunday Trump’s threat to shut the government down, saying the administration would “do whatever is necessary” to secure funding for the wall. More here.

GOOD MORNING! It’s Monday Dec. 17, and this is Morning Shift, your daily tipsheet on labor and immigration news. Send tips, exclusives, and suggestions to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter at @RebeccaARainey, @tedhesson, @IanKullgren, and @TimothyNoah1.

MULVANEY REPLACEMENT ANNOUNCED: “Russell Vought will replace Mick Mulvaney as OMB director as the budget chief assumes his new role as acting White House chief of staff,” POLITICO’s Jennifer Scholtes reports. Vought was confirmed as deputy OMB director in February, nearly a year after his nomination. Previously he was vice president of grassroots outreach for Heritage Action and served on Trump’s transition team.

“During his confirmation hearing, Vought declined multiple times to guarantee he would respond to Democratic oversight requests, a response Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) called ‘absolutely outrageous’ and ‘almost disqualifying,” Scholtes writes. In 2016, Vought wrote in an article for the conservative website the Resurgent, "Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned." "While that statement drew fire during his formal vetting process," Scholtes writes, "Vought stood by the statement in confirmation testimony.” More here. Read Vought's Resurgent article here.

DOL TO CRACK DOWN ON VISA FRAUD: DOL plans to expand its efforts to root out guest worker fraud by reviewing categories of visas that it previously did not, Bloomberg Law’s Jaclyn Diaz reports.

“The department previously took the position that it had debarment authority only with seasonal worker visas under the H-2A and H-2B programs,” Diaz writes. “Those visas allow employers in agriculture and other sectors to hire seasonal help to make up for an anticipated shortage of U.S. workers. … However, the DOL maintains it also has the authority to punish employers that use a wider scope of foreign work visas, like the H-1B program,” which grants visas to foreign workers in specialty occupations.

Under the new system, more employers could be punished for misrepresenting the type of work that foreign employees will be doing and paying workers improperly, Diaz writes. The change follows a 2017 executive order that seeks to “create higher wages and employment rates for U.S. workers” by rigorously enforcing immigration laws. More here.

THE MCCONNELL CONNECTION: Gordon Hartogensis, the Trump administration’s pick to run the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, is a stranger to most of Washington but for one big connection: His brother-in-law is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his sister-in-law is Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, POLITICO's Ian Kullgren writes.

“Hartogensis' low public profile and his lack of government and management experience set him apart from previous occupants of the job, who have typically worked in politics and at federal agencies such as the Treasury Department and the OMB before taking over. The nomination has drawn criticism for that reason.” Sen. Bob Menendez, who voted against Hartogensis's nomination in committee, told POLITICO: "I don’t believe that Mr. Hartogensis has the qualifications necessary." His counsin George Hartogensis conceded that the family connection "may be why they’re appointing him, as a family favor." More here.

GRINNELL’S UNION BACKS DOWN: Grinnell College’s student union said Friday that it will not advance a complaint against university administrators to the NLRB, fearing that would give the Republican-majority board an opportunity to reverse the NLRB's 2016 decision allowing student workers at private universities to organize into unions. The announcement came hours after Mother Jones published an article on the union’s plan, which raised concerns on the Iowa liberal arts college campus.

The fight began in 2017, when administrators opposed the union’s efforts to expand from 300 dining workers to 1,200 student workers campuswide, Mother Jones‘ Tonya Riley reports. The university appealed the vote to the full NLRB after a regional judge ruled in favor of the students; in a statement to Mother Jones, the student union said it withdrew its petition seeking broader recognition. More here.

DEMOCRATS QUESTION 7-YEAR-OLD’S DEATH: House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and four other Democrats on Friday asked the DHS inspector general to investigate the death of a 7-year-old girl in border patrol custody.

“This death raises significant questions about the conditions in CBP’s short-term holding facilities, and the general suitability of such facilities for families and children,” Nadler wrote in a letter with Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) “We are also troubled by the fact that we learned of this incident from the Washington Post, rather than through congressional notification as required under Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations laws. To address these and other concerns, we request that you open an investigation immediately.”

The child reportedly died of dehydration and shock after being apprehended last week while crossing into the U.S. illegally with her father, the Post reported. A family spokesman said Saturday the girl was healthy when she arrived at the border, contradicting DHS’ account. More here.

DACA RECIPIENTS DENIED FEDERAL LOANS: DACA recipients increasingly are being denied federally-insured mortgages, Buzzfeed’s Nidhi Prakash reports. “DACA recipients, loan officers, realtors, and industry associations told BuzzFeed News that they have noticed the change, which has never been announced as a formal policy, particularly in the past year, amid a slowdown in the housing market nationwide,” Prakash writes.

“People working with DACA recipients on housing say they have noticed the change in guidance in the year since President Donald Trump unsuccessfully moved to rescind the program, which protects people who were brought to the US illegally as children from deportation.

“While Trump has not been able to get rid of DACA (he’s been blocked by the courts from winding it down), DACA recipients and mortgage lenders told BuzzFeed News that in the meantime one of the ways the administration is working to reduce benefits for DREAMers is by denying them Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans.” More here.

HARVARD ECONOMIST FACES #METOO RECKONING: Star Harvard economist Roland G. Fryer, Jr., is said to have harassed at least four female colleagues, according to a university investigator’s report reviewed by the New York Times.

The report “found that Dr. Fryer had engaged in ‘unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature’ toward four women who worked in the Harvard-affiliated research lab he created. In one case, his ‘persistent and pervasive’ conduct contributed to stress that resulted in the accuser’s taking disability leave,” the Times’ Jim Tankersley and Ben Casselman write. “The investigator could not substantiate some allegations, including one asserting retaliation by Dr. Fryer.” More here.

— “How Schumer united Dems against Trump’s wall,” from POLITICO

— “Labor unions urge Ohio House Democrats to back Republican Larry Householder for speaker,” from the Cleveland Plain Dealer

— “Study: When Leaders Take Sexual Harassment Seriously, So Do Employees,” from the Harvard Business Review

— “Liberals and conservatives see sexual harassment claims very differently. This explains why,” from the Washington Post

THAT’S ALL FOR MORNING SHIFT.

Follow us on Twitter Rebecca Rainey @rebeccaarainey