Twitter Questions!

Sorry guys! I meant to get to these last night, but it didn't work out that way.

• What does the shutdown mean for ordinary Americans?

Probably not much, unless you're looking to get a FHA loan or you're a small business owner and need something from SBA. It means a great deal for the folks in Government, though:

FBI, TSA, DEA, ATF, USSS, CBP, Air Traffic Controllers, Forest Firefighters, Weather Forecasters, etc. will all still have to work, but won’t be paid for it until the budget is resolved. These employees are considered 'excepted' or 'exempt'. Over 95% of NASA employees will be furloughed—in the middle of some of the most important research they’ve EVER completed.

Thankfully, it's not tax time, as the IRS will largely be furloughed. National Parks and monuments could shut down or become limited in operations, with many NPS employees being sent home. The ones who are in exempt positions are the lucky ones; sure, they have to work for no pay until the shutdown is over, but at least they're guaranteed to get paid: the furloughed employees only get paid if Congress decides they should be retroactively compensated. To sum it up: Trump is holding hundreds of thousands of Government employees hostage for a wall that nobody wants to pay for, and won’t work anyway. 

• How long will it take to clean up the mess that 45 has made and will we truly have bipartisan efforts after him?

Domestically, some of the messes he's made will take years to resolve. I believe his tax scam and tariffs are setting us up for another recession. I hope I'm wrong, but signs point to us being in for a rough 2019. From a foreign policy position, I don't believe it will take *as* long, but we definitely have some challenges ahead. Primarily, we have to restore the faith of our allies. We have to show the world that America's word will again mean something in the post-Trump world. I think this will be relatively simple, as long as we quickly show some goodwill to NATO, the EU, etc. For the most part, our closest allies understand that Trump doesn't necessarily speak for America, as weird as that is to say about a sitting President of the United States. Unfortunately, Matttis' departure makes this a bit more complicated; our allies *loved* him, as he was able to pull them aside and reassure them of our allegiance and convince them to ignore Trump's more abhorrent rhetoric. As far as real bipartisan efforts, I really, really hope so. The country has to find a way to gravitate more towards the center -- wherever that is now -- because fringe-politics suck. The alt-right won't go away, but watching our elected officials embrace that shitshow disgusts me to no end.

• As reassuring as your predictions are at times, you’ve repeatedly said you think Trump will resign without seeking the 2020 nomination. Without divulging sensitive information, what makes you so confident he won’t seek the office again to avoid campaign finance charges?

Mostly, I believe he will already be out of office and either on his way, or already in prison when it comes time to decide on candidates for 2020. Pretending that he's not guilty of about 30 crimes and looking at serious jail time, the GOP would be insane to support him for another term. Mattis' letter hit Congress like a thunderbolt from Zeus. McGurk resigning today will be similarly felt throughout the corridors of power. The adults in the room have finally had enough of the tangerine tyrant and his bullshit. If for some incredibly strange reason he's not already out of office, he's going to get primaried. This is the point where we *should* start to see more prominent members of the GOP start to back away. Trump is no longer helpful to them. If they continue to leave their wagons hitched to the Trump Train, it's going to be political suicide, and they know it.

• Who is smarter? Donald Trump or Rosco Purvis Coltrane?

My kid's pet rock.

• Do you think Trump will sacrifice himself to save his kids or will he throw them under the bus to avoid jail time as long as possible?

I don't think there's a single person on the planet Donald Trump wouldn't try to throw under the bus to save himself. It's not going to work, though.

• How many hours does Trump actually work each day?

I don't understand the question. Hours appears to be plural here. 

I'm going to try to get to more of these in the next day or two. I got a bunch of really good questions this round. I really enjoy these AMAs; no guarantees, but I'm going to *try* to do one a week going forward. As always, keep the questions and comments coming!