POLITICO Playbook: Is this the dark before the light?

By ANNA PALMER, JAKE SHERMAN and DANIEL LIPPMAN 01/07/2019 06:09 AM EST

DRIVING THE DAY

SHUTDOWN … DAY 17 … The one positive element our sources took out of yesterday’s meeting at the White House is that this government funding stalemate needs to get much worse before it gets solved, and that is what began happening yesterday.

DEMOCRATS were put off when, at the beginning of the meeting, the White House did not have the budgetary information ready that they had asked for. Democrats complained that it took 45 minutes for the administration to come up with it. Meanwhile, Republicans say that VP MIKE PENCE simply asked for OMB to dig up more information because Democrats were asking for it. They had to produce the information in one day.

THE WHITE HOUSE sent a letter to the Hill, detailing what it wants as part of this funding bill. The Trump administration is asking for $5.7 billion for a “steel barrier,” which is doubling down on a position that Democrats have rejected countless times already.

SOMETHING ELSE THAT STUCK OUT: The administration is looking for $798 million more for detention beds. Democrats have been trying to slash the bed funding number for years. Republicans believe more beds are needed because more people are crossing the border illegally. The letter … Marianne LeVine and Quint Forgey on the request

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https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2019/01/07/is-this-the-dark-before-the-light-371203