begin quote from:Hillary Clinton is meeting with 2020 Democratic hopefuls
1:26 p.m.
Hillary Clinton has been meeting with likely candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, Axiosand CNN reported Friday, citing sources close to the former presidential candidate and secretary of state.
Among those she has met with so far are Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D), and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D). This "has been going on for months and will continue," Axios reports, "since Clinton will talk to any Democrat who wants to talk."
Contenders are seeking her endorsement and advice, though another major prize would be access to her extensive fundraising network.
"I won't comment on private discussions she's had," Clinton aide Nick Merrill told Axios, "except to say that she's more than happy to talk to anyone considering a run about the challenges (as well as the great things) that go with it, and lessons learned on what to watch for in this next cycle (aside from [Russian President] Vladimir [Putin])." Bonnie Kristian
1:02 p.m.
Scheduled pay raises for top federal officials including Vice President Mike Pence and members of the Cabinet have been put on hold for the duration of the partial government shutdown.
The Office of Personnel Management directed federal agencies to freeze the raises in a memo Friday night, arguing "it would be prudent for agencies to continue to pay these senior political officials at the frozen rate until appropriations legislation is enacted that would clarify the status of the freeze."
The raises would have bumped recipients' pay by $10,000 per year while about 800,000 federal workers are on furlough or working without pay until shutdown negotiations are resolved.
At the end of December, President Trump issued an executive order canceling a 2.1 percent pay raise for federal civilian workers that was scheduled for January, instead freezing their pay for the duration of 2019. The order also cancels a January "locality pay increase," an annual adjustment of federal salaries tied to local cost of living, but it does not affect a 2.6 percent raise planned for military forces. Bonnie Kristian
11:52 a.m.
President Trump is not known for being squeamish about profanity. He is considerably more willing to curse in public than other recent presidents — watch a supercut here — and some of his most controversial comments, like the Access Hollywood recording and the "shithole" remark, involve profanity.
Nevertheless, when freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said of TrumpThursday night that her plan is to "impeach the motherf---er," the president took offense.
"I thought her comments were disgraceful," he said Friday at a Rose Garden press conference. "I think she dishonored herself, and I think she dishonored her family using language like that in front of her son and whoever else was there," he continued. "I thought it was highly disrespectful to the United States of America."
Alas, this is not evidence of a newfound lingual purity for Trump. In fact, in a meeting with congressional leaders right before the press conference, he cursed a lot, The Washington Post reports: "The president often used profanity during the meeting, apologizing to Pelosi at one point for cursing so much, according to [an unnamed 'official familiar with the exchange']."
In other news, leopards are still spotty. Read the rest of the Post's report here. Bonnie Kristian
10:17 a.m.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents are among those federal employees tasked with working without pay while the partial government shutdown continues, though they will receive back pay once the shutdown ends. In the meantime, however, hundreds of TSA employees have called in sick, CNN reported Friday, citing agency and union officials.
"This problem of call outs is really going to explode over the next week or two when employees miss their first paycheck. TSA officers are telling the union they will find another way to make money," said a union leader from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. "That means calling out to work other jobs."
The Department of Homeland Security labeled the report "#FakeNews" in an angry tweeted response:
More #FakeNews from @CNN. Security operations at airports have not been impacted by a non-existent sick out. CNN has the cell numbers of multiple @TSA public affairs professionals, but rather than validate statistics, they grossly misrepresented them. twitter.com/kaitlancollins…
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The TSA itself issued a statement acknowledging "[c]all outs began over the Holiday period and have increased," but added that they "are causing minimal impact given there are 51,739 employees supporting the screening process." The vast majority of passenger wait times are under half an hour, the agency said. Bonnie Kristian
9:58 a.m.
Five teenage girls were killed and one other person injured when a fire broke out in an escape room in Koszalin, Poland, on Friday.
The girls were attending a birthday party when a fire thought to be caused by a gas leak was started in an adjacent room. They were likely killed by carbon monoxide inhalation, while the sixth victim was hospitalized with severe burns.
"A devastating tragedy in Koszalin," Polish President Andrzej Duda tweeted. "Five joyous, growing girls have been torn out of their lives. God bless their parents and relatives." Local authorities said all escape rooms will now be required to have evacuation plans including a staff member prepared to help guests make quick emergency exits. Bonnie Kristian
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