Jared Kushner didn’t suggest Russian communications channel in meeting, source says https://t.co/nF6bM1FEt1
With his policy agenda stalled amid swirling investigations, the president on Tuesday pressured Senate Republican
leaders to change the Senate’s rules, end the filibuster and ease passage of his legislative priorities.
So what is known as “the nuclear option” — a unilateral change of Senate rules
that would deprive the minority party of virtually all its legislative power — would be unnecessary.
Republicans plan to use the same budget rules — known as reconciliation — to protect a tax cut measure from a filibuster as well.
“Senator McConnell agrees that both health care and tax reform are essential,” said Antonia Ferrier, a McConnell spokeswoman, “and
that is why Republicans in Congress are using the reconciliation process to prevent a partisan filibuster of these two critical legislative agenda items
President Trump may not be accepting media reports
that his son-in-law sought a back channel to the Kremlin, but the Kremlin let it be known that the Russians would welcome one.
Russian state media jumped into the fray Tuesday with a tweet
that might not be helpful to the president’s denials, saying that the foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, does want an open channel to work on cooling down the war in Syria.