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The president underscored the futility of Sundays confab before it even took place: I dont expect to have anything happen at that meeting, he told reporters that morning, before heading to Camp David. Ultimately, its going to be solved by the principals.

In other words, Pence entered the talks under no illusion that progress lay waiting. The result was that Pences negotiating partners saw him as a man sidelined, a status that has increasingly defined the vice presidents tenure, according to interviews with lawmakers, aides, and current and former administration officials, many of whom requested anonymity in order to speak frankly and reveal confidential details.

Read: Mike Pences talent for being absent

In Sundays meeting, for example, Democratic staffers made clear that they would not negotiate border-wall funding until the government reopens, maintaining the position House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had staked out days before. According to two congressional staffers in the room, Pence responded by discussing funding for border-security items both parties might agree upon, such as drone technology. For Pence, the sources said, it appeared an attempt to maintain a smooth and congenial discussion. Nevertheless, with regard to the sticking point$5.7 billion for a wallboth parties remained dug in. I wish hed been a bit more forceful, lamented one Republican aide who was in the room.

Pence has never been an outwardly aggressive negotiator on behalf of the president, preferring to project a calm, respectful, and reasonable demeanor to contrast Donald Trumps bombast. Its a posture that most lawmakers and aides I spoke to appreciated, praising Pence as a valuable sounding board for their frustrations with the White House, notably at Senate Republicans weekly policy lunches, which he attends frequently. Yet when it comes to reaching a deal with Democrats to reopen the government, it has mattered almost none: On Monday, day 17 of the partial government shutdown, the White House announced its most serious threat yet to declare a national state of emergency over what it claims is a crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Pence signaled his readiness to abandon talks with Democrats in favor of this move, telling reporters on Monday that the border represents a humanitarian and national-security crisis.

Hes investing in GOP solidarity, a senior aide to a GOP member close to Pence told me, not deal making with Democrats.

Should the administration declare a state of emergency, Pences reputation as a mediator between the White House and Congress would likely take a hit. Such a declaration would symbolize the administrations failure not only to pick off Democrats, but also to maintain the total support of its own party: In the past week, moderate Senate Republicans such as Susan Collins of Maine, Cory Gardner of Colorado, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina said they were prepared to back the governments reopening with or without wall funding.

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Vice President Mike Pence and the Government Shutdown - The Atlantic

Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday night that the Trump administration had no plans to back down from its demand for $5.6 billion in funding for a border wall, even if it means keeping the government partially closed.

The president has made it very clear: No wall, no deal, Pence told Fox News personality Tucker Carlson. Were here to make a deal, but its a deal thats going to result in achieving real gains on border security, and you have no border security without a wall. We will have no deal without a wall.

The partial government shutdown, which began shortly before Christmas, is stretching into its third week with no end in sight. House Democrats under the leadership of newly elected Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), passed legislation meant to reopen closed agencies, but those efforts have already been deemed dead on arrival by Republican leaders. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) has said he would block any bill without first obtaining President Donald Trumps approval, and Trump has refused to back down from his demand that a government spending bill include the $5.6 billion for the wall.

Pence on Thursday repeatedly said the White House was willing to negotiate with the Democrats to sort out some kind of compromise, although he said there would be no deal without funding for some sort of barrier along the Mexico border.

We really are prepared to negotiate, were prepared to talk, were prepared to listen, the vice president said. I want the American people to know that this is a real crisis at our border, and we made progress last year.

Congressional leaders from both parties are expected to meet with Trump at the White House again on Friday.

Some GOP senators began to break with their party on Thursday, however, and urged McConnell to consider compromising on legislation even if Trump didnt get immediate funding for border security. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) told The Hill that the chamber should pass a continuing resolution, a stop-gap funding measure, to get the government back open.

We can pass legislation that has the appropriations number in it while we continue to get more, but we should continue to do our jobs and get the government open, he told the outlet.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also said Thursday she would support a proposal to separate homeland security funding from other funding bills in order to reopen most of the government agencies that have been affected.

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Mike Pence Says Trump Won't Budge: 'No Wall, No Deal'

On Thursday, as a new year began and with it a new Congress, Vice President Mike Pence swore in the Senates newly elected and re-elected members on the Senate floor. The event is typically a happy occasion that victorious candidates share with their families, a capstone to what is often a grueling campaign season away from home.

But the celebratory photos that circulate after the fact arent the real deal, and theres a reason for that: Aside from one official photograph each year, photography has been formally banned in the Senate Chamber since the 1950s.

Instead, after Pence officiates the oath of office in the Senate chamber, newly inducted Senators can move to the Old Senate Chamber and do it all over again alongside their families. (Meanwhile, in the much larger House of Representatives, a new Congress is marked by Members taking the oath of office as a group; though that moment has been photographed, the House Speaker may also do individual reenactments as photo-ops for Members.)

Daniel Holt, an assistant Senate historian, tells TIME that the tradition of repeating the oath just for show dates back to as early as the 1930s, when Franklin D. Roosevelts Vice President, John Nance Garner, reenacted oaths in his ceremonial office for the widow of Huey Long, Rose McConnell Long, who briefly became a Louisiana Senator after her husband died, and for New Jersey Sen. William Smathers and Florida Sen. Claude Pepper in the 1930s.

In the 1970s, Vice Presidents began reenacting the oaths with more regularity for the families of newly elected Senators who wanted to be closer to the action, as civilians are generally not permitted on the Senate floor and have to watch from the gallery. After the Old Senate Chamber reopened for tourists in 1976, Vice President Walter Mondale moved the reenactments there in 1981, Holt explains.

From then on it became more of an ingrained tradition, Holt said.

The ceremonial reenactments have become a bigger deal with the advancement of photography. People want keepsakes to remember special occasions by.

This wasnt a huge problem before the 1950s when you didnt have high-speed film and handheld cameras, Holt says.

In fact, Senators have gotten in trouble for using their phones to take photographs and videos on the floor in recent years. On Dec. 20, outgoing Sen. Claire McCaskill was reprimanded for posting a video of the floor while the Senate was not in session. And Im out, the caption read.

United States Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells office proceeded to file a complaint with the Senate Sergeant at Arms, which enforces the Senate rules. McCaskill had broken Rule IV, which stipulates that taking of pictures of any kind is prohibited in the Senate Chamber, the Senate Reading Rooms (Marble Room and Lobby), the Senate Cloakrooms, and the Private Dining Room of the Senate.

Reenacting the oaths in the Old Senate Chamber gives Senators a way around Rule IV so they can have precious moments like the one shared by Sen. Chris Murphy and his son Rider in 2013, when the 1-year-old made headlines for raising his hand alongside his father.

Rider Murphy raises his hand just like his father, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) (L) as he participates in a reenacted swearing-in with his wife Catherine Murphy and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in the Old Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol January 3, 2013

Chip SomodevillaGetty Images

I dont think Vice President [Joe] Biden expected to also swear in my son Rider that day, the Democrat from Connecticut told TIME. Being able to share that moment with my wife and kids meant the world to me and it gave us one of our favorite family photos.

Write to Abby Vesoulis at abby.vesoulis@time.com.

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Why All Those Photos of Mike Pence Swearing In ... - time.com

What's the future of the U.S. military? Apparently space. Take a look at our favorite jokes, then vote for yours at usatoday.com/opinion. Eileen Rivers, USA TODAY Opinion

Alec Baldwin, left, as President Donald Trump and Beck Bennett as Vice President Mike Pence in a scene from "Saturday Night Live."(Photo: Will Heath/NBC)

WASHINGTON You might have laughed at a satirical headline in The Onion about Vice President Mike Pence asking a waiter to remove a bottle of Mrs. Butterworth's syrup from the table until his wife arrives.

Or you could have seen the "Saturday Night Live"Christmas skit in which the stiff-armed, buttoned-down vice president says he doesnt like Deck the Halls, because the carol mentions gay apparel, which Im pretty sure is a mesh tank top.

Or you could have heard Stephen Colberts recent riff on Pences political strategy of being so boring people forget you exist.

He is a manila envelope taped to a beige wall, Colbert said. He could go back to his old job. I think it was off-white paint swatch. Sun-faded department store mannequin. Ghost of a plain yogurt.

Jokes about Pence, and impersonations of him on shows like "SNL,"have consistent themes.

Of the 80 jokes targeting Pence on the late-night talk shows in 2017, most were about his alleged dull personality, prudishnessand homophobia, according to a database compiled by the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University.

He is really portrayed as a Christian fundamentalist, very homophobic, the whitest person in politics, said Edo Steinberg, a doctoral candidate at Indiana Universitys Media School who studies political satire. Hes a very sinister character.

The effect of political humor on a politicians reputation varies, according to experts. But its more likely to have an impact on the image of someone like Pence, who did not have a national profile before becoming vice president, than on President Donald Trump.

Trump jokes will not be changing anybodys opinion about Trump, said Jody Baumgartner, a political scientist at East Carolina University who has written about political humor. Everybody already has an opinion about Trump.

And Trump is such a target for comedians, that Pence and others in his orbit often get less attention.Jokes about Pence have made up a slightly smaller share of George Mason Universitys database of jokes about politicians than those of other recent vice presidents.

"Trump isn't just the elephant in the room. He's the whole room," said Robert Lichter, communications professor at George Mason University and director of the Center for Media and Public Affairs. Pence has embraced the traditional role of vice president:Dont call attention to yourself."

That backfired, however, when Pence sat silently in the Oval Office as Trump sparred this monthwith House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer over funding a border wall and preventing a government shutdown.

After people made jokes on the internet all day comparing Pence to an "elf on the shelf" and "the worst member of this improv team," late-night hosts Colbert, Seth Meyers, Trevor Noah and Jimmy Kimmel all joined in the fun.

I guess when Schumer said shutdown, Pence took him literally, Meyers joked.

Some jokes about Pence have gotten noticed for being controversial.

After former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newmansaid in Februarythat Pence thinks Jesus tells him to say things, comedian Joy Behar quipped that he is mentally ill.

"Its one thing to talk to Jesus. Its another thing when Jesus talks to you," Behar said on The View in February."That's called mental illness, if I'm not correct. Hearing voices."

Behar later apologized, saying: I was raised to respect everyone's religious faith, and I fell short of that.

Late-night comics tend to focus on politicians personalities in making jokes. And the religiosity of Pence who introduces himself as aChristian, a conservative and a Republican in that order is one of the things many people tend to know about him. (Another is that he follows a practice common among some evangelicals to avoid beingalone with a woman other than his wife.)

But other occupants of the White House have been openly religious without that becoming significant fodder for satire.

George W. Bush, for example, he was also a Christian president, but he had other traits that people knew about that they could joke about, Steinberg said.

Also, former Vice President Joe Biden, like Pence, doesnt drink alcohol. But while "SNLs" Mike Pence worries that hes slurring his speech after imbibing ginger ale, The Onion dubbed Biden Diamond Joe and celebrated his wild-ass magic carpet ride.

Chad Nackers, the satirical publications editor-in-chief, said the Biden character who tearfully took down a black-light poster of a topless Barbarian chick from his office wall in one article and washed a Trans Am, shirtless, in the White House driveway in another went against Bidens nature, which was serious, despite his Cheshire cat grin.

But I feel like, during this time when the truth has lost some of its meaning, to be authentic, you cant treat Pence like hes off womanizing, Nackers said. Instead, we have to play into what he does to stop himself from doing those types of things.

Hence the Mrs. Butterworth's headline. Or this one: Pence Passing Time During Trumps Speech By Mentally Baptizing Senators.

But when The Onion reported that Trump accidentally fired off a Boring Mike Pence tweet during the vice presidents speech, that joke apparently hit too close to home.

"People thought that was real for some reason,"Nackers said. People were like, 'Why is he attacking Pence?

Pences supporters might also wonder the same thing about late-night comedians. Political humor has become more critical and negative over the last few decades, according to Lichter.

The jokes could be more biting because of who is making them, Baumgartner said.

If you look across the late-night talk show landscape, he said, you can see that we have openly activist, progressive, left-leaning hosts who are dominating the landscape and getting the ratings to show it.

When Pences wife and daughter published "A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo," a childrens book that describes the vice presidents job as seen through the eyes of his pet rabbit, John Oliver put out an alternative version that was meant as a criticism of the vice presidents record on gay rights. The parody book rose higher on best-seller lists than the original.

Also, the parody of the Trump administration by "SNL"has gone too far, argues Bill Horner, a politicalscience professor at the University of Missouri who co-authored a book about Saturday Night Live and the 1976 presidential election.

Theyve staked out a much more clearly negative position on this president than theyve done almost through their whole history, he said.

Horner calls "SNL" actor Beck Bennetts portrayal of Pence a pretty good take, with Bennett holding himself stiffly as he gamely tries to reinterpret controversialor falsethings Trump has just said.

Beck Bennett is Vice President Mike Pence and Aidy Bryant is Karen Pence on 'SNL.'(Photo: Will Heath, NBC)

But Horner seesthe jokes on "SNL" and other platforms that paint Pence as being prudish, homophobic and super-religious as revealing an underlying fear from the writers of what would happen if Trump left office and Pence replaced him.

I think the humor seems to really reflect that, Horner said.

Pences own sense of humor is a mystery to many. Despite the fact that Pence has enjoyed doing impressions since childhood so much so that a friends mom thought he might become a comedian he said when running for governor of Indiana in 2012 that one of the biggest misconceptions about him is that he doesnt have a sense of humor.

Hes deadpanned. Which is potentially good. But hes deadpanned stern, not deadpanned funny, said Republican speechwriter Landon Parvin. Rectitude is not good for comedy unless you are making fun of the rectitude, then it's gold. It's like knocking off the hat of the mayor with a snowball.

If he were asked to help make Pence funny, Parvin said he would urge Pence to surprise the people who think they know him.

Show me a little more sinner and a little less saint, Parvin said. I think that would relax his persona some.

There have been glimpses of that.

When Pence was ridiculed on social media over a photo that showed him touching NASA equipment next to a do not touch sign, Pence tweeted: Sorry NASA@MarcoRubio dared me to do it.

Pence has also made self-deprecating remarks about his image. Speaking at the 2017 Gridiron Club dinner, Pence joked that it was good all the major networks were represented because I only have to say the same thing once.

He quipped that the news that he uses an AOL email account would help his image because now America knows Im not stuck in the 50s. Im just stuck in the 90s.

And he gave a nod to the lighthearted tradition of political comedy.

Humor, Pence said, is a great unifier.

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Mike Pence: 'Whitest person in politics' gets a lot of ribbing

12/12/2018 3:09 PM PST

EXCLUSIVE

President Trumpinsists he's not feeling any impeachment heat, but his Veep Mike Penceis in prepare-for-the-worst mode ... according to Congressman Gregory Meeks.

We got the distinguished gentleman from NY on Capitol Hill and he tells us he sees similarities between Mueller's Trump investigation and the one that eventually forcedRichard M. Nixonout of office.

Meeks believesRobert Mueller's court filing last week was devastating for POTUS because it revealed Cohen told the special counsel's office it was Trump who directed payments to 2 women -- Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal.Meeks says Pence is paying close attention as the info trickles out.

Case in point, during Tuesday's fireworks at the White House, Trump railed on Rep.Schumer and Rep.Pelosi... while Pence sat silently.

Bottom line -- Rep. Meeks thinks Pence will have very little to say about his pal, the Prez, in coming weeks because he's busy reading writing on walls. And, no ... he ain't talking graffiti.

The rest is here:
Mike Pence Distancing Himself from Trump and ... - tmz.com