WASHINGTON, Jan 18, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump forced the
cancellation Thursday of a trip to Afghanistan by his Democratic opponent
Nancy Pelosi, and scrapped administration officials’ travel to the Davos
forum as a government shutdown plunged Washington deeper into deadlock.
The mess in the US capital already verged on the surreal as Congress feuds
with the White House over how to end an impasse now in its fourth week, with
thousands of federal workers left unpaid.
But now it is also getting increasingly personal between the two main
antagonists.
In a letter laced with sarcasm, Trump told House Speaker Pelosi: “I am
sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has
been postponed. We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown
is over.”
“I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is
appropriate,” he wrote.
And in a move that appeared aimed at heading off Democratic criticism about
non-essential administration travel during the shutdown, the White House
announced the cancellation of a trip to the World Economic Forum by Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin and others “out of consideration for the 800,000
great American workers not receiving pay.”
Pelosi and her delegation had planned a non-publicized trip to Afghanistan
— an active war zone — and were due to travel aboard a US Air Force plane.
Her office said Egypt was not on the itinerary.
According to a congressional aide, several lawmakers were already loaded
onto buses preparing to leave the US Capitol Thursday when Trump pulled the
plug.
Rubbing it in, Trump said that Pelosi could still book her own non-
government flights.
“Obviously, if you would like to make your journey by flying commercial,
that would certainly be your prerogative,” he wrote.
The cancellation followed Pelosi’s suggestion that Trump postpone his
January 29 State of the Union address to Congress, or do it from the White
House instead.
Although she cited the shutdown’s effect on security, she appeared to want
to deny the president one of his chief annual moments in the limelight.
The White House denied that the travel blockage was payback, but few bought
the argument.
– ‘Sophomoric’ –
House Democrats who had been slated for the trip were left fuming,
including freshman congresswoman Elaine Luria, a 20-year Navy veteran who
said the purpose was to express appreciation to Americans in uniform and gain
critical intelligence on the ground.
“Oversight is the responsibility of Congress, and it is inappropriate for
the President to interfere with our constitutional duties,” Luria said in a
statement.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who for weeks has served as a referee of
sorts between Trump and Pelosi, accused the latter of “playing politics with
the State of the Union.”
But he also hit out at Trump, saying “denying Speaker Pelosi military
travel to visit our troops in Afghanistan, our allies in Egypt and NATO is
also inappropriate.”
“One sophomoric response does not deserve another,” Graham said.
The government shutdown is due to Trump’s refusal to sign off on funding
for a host of departments, in retaliation for the Democratic-led House’s
refusal to approve his US-Mexico border wall project.
The shutdown is leaving an increasingly deep impact across the country,
where for almost a month FBI agents, museum workers, US Coast Guard personnel
and other officials have been either ordered to stay home or forced to work
without pay.
Regular employees will get back pay eventually, while contractors will not.
The Democrats and the White House blame each other for the impasse, with
neither side showing signs of backing down.
Trump critics quickly pointed out that he himself visited troops in Iraq
during the shutdown.
House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff said he believed
cancelling a speaker of the House’s fact-finding mission to a war zone was a
first for a US president.
“We believe this is completely inappropriate by the president. We’re not
going to allow the President of the United States to tell the Congress it
can’t fulfill its oversight responsibilities, it can’t ensure that our troops
have what they need whether our government is open or closed,” he told
reporters.
“That work must go on and I think it’s vitally important now, in particular
that the president has announced withdrawals from Syria and Afghanistan, that
we understand the situation on the ground.”