Empty....

Inside the empty West Wing

By BEN WHITE

The empty West Wing — A senior official described for MM the very strange scene inside the final days of the Trump White House. The president himself is rarely seen around the West Wing, only occasionally popping into the Oval Office and mostly ignoring any official duties. He is mostly just stewing in the residence, making phone calls, cut off from his Twitter addiction, facing another impeachment and finally resigned to leaving next week.

Official work still goes on, this person said, even as some high-level staff and Cabinet officials very publicly resign. Some who remain view the quitters as just show-boaters looking to score PR points after the Capitol attack disaster. If they were so righteous, this thinking goes, why didn’t they quit sooner? And why not stay around now and help those trying to wind things down with no more meltdowns?

Despite irritation with the quitters, pretty much everyone left now mostly loathes the president, especially for his treatment of Vice President Mike Pence, who spent four years as an unwaveringly loyal supporter before Trump jammed him under the bus and turned the VP into the ultimate villain to MAGA world.

25th was never gonna happen — This official noted that there was never any serious talk about invoking the 25th amendment and having the Cabinet attempt to remove the president. And they said those who leaked that they discussed it mostly did so to score points with a disgusted media and non-MAGA public. But there was never enough internal support to do it or belief that it would actually make it through Congress following a Trump objection.

No real impeachment defense — As he broods and waits for the end, our Anita Kumar and Daniel Lippman report: “House Democrats are poised to impeach him on Wednesday. But … Trump is not expected to mount a forceful White House defense against charges he incited last week’s deadly riots

“Trump knows he’s unlikely to be removed from office with Republicans controlling the Senate until next week and only a few days left of his term. The president has also grown increasingly isolated, distrusting the same aides and advisers he had relied on during prior crises in his presidency, including White House Counsel Pat Cipollone.”

Business world breaks up with GOP (for now) — Our Alex Isenstadt, Elena Schneider, Theodoric Meyer, and Zachary Warmbrodt: “The breakup between the business world and the Republican Party is rapidly accelerating in the wake of last week’s deadly pro-Trump riot at the Capitol, posing a serious financial threat to the party just as it’s facing the loss of power in Washington.

“Ten major companies so far, including some of the biggest corporate givers in politics, have decided to withhold contributions to Republican lawmakers who objected to the certification of the Electoral College votes, and dozens more are stopping all of their political donations after the riot.”

Bank of America joined other banks on Monday in halting all PAC contributions “for the immediate future.”