Key Takeaways
  • South Carolina holds a primary this weekend, with the state's former governor Nikki Haley facing off against former President Donald Trump.
  • Despite Haley's home-state advantage, Trump is widely expected to win.
  • Congress will return from its Presidents' Day break next week with the first of two government-shutdown deadlines looming.

South Carolina has a Saturday primary, and this weekend former President Trump and former Governor Nikki Haley face off in what polls show will be a blowout victory for Trump. Obviously, a Trump victory in Governor Haley’s home state would be a big blow to her primary challenge. 

From my days as a political advisor and speechwriter, it has become obvious to me that in the last few weeks, Governor Haley has found a higher comfort level in running a hard-hitting campaign against Trump.  While she had a respectable showing in NH, a loss in the state where she served as Governor will be a real blow and give the former President big-time bragging rights. Although I take Haley at her word that she will stay in the race, with a South Carolina victory by Trump, it is hard to envision any scenario in which he doesn’t become the Republican nominee.

Government shutdown

Congress returns next week with the first of the two government shutdown dates only days away.  Under the two-tier funding legislation championed by House Speaker Johnson, some of the smaller government departments are set to shut down on March 1, while the big departments such as DoD and HHS have a March 8 deadline.

Behind the scenes, House and Senate staffs for the Appropriations Committees have been working non-stop during the Presidents’ Day break.  Leaders in both parties know that it was working with Democrats on spending that ultimately cost Kevin McCarthy the Speakership.  Speaker Johnson will return to DC next week with some very tough decisions to make on how hard he will push his most conservative Members of his caucus to avoid a shutdown at midnight Friday night.

Disclosures (show)

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