Looking at the Year Ahead in National Politics with NPR’s Tamara Keith

Keith says the year begins with division among Republican leadership in Washington over what issues to tackle.

Jake Neher/WDET

President Donald Trump kicked off the new year with a controversial tweet, this time throwing into question the United State’s alliance with Pakistan.

It’s perhaps a signal that 2018 is the new year… same as the old year.

Will we be spending each morning waiting for the presidential Twitter feed to dictate the day’s news, or to tell us where we’re headed in foreign and domestic policy?

NPR White House Correspondent Tamara Keith tells Detroit Today the year begins with division among Republican leadership in Washington over what issues to tackle.

“Right now the House, Senate, and White House are not on the same page,” says Keith. She says Republicans from the House and Senate plan to convene for a retreat later this week to hammer out differences on entitlement reform and immigration.

Keith says the investigation led by special council Robert Mueller into connections between the Trump campaign and Russian officials colors much of the business happening in Washington, and will continue to throughout the year due to its size and scope. She says no one outside of Mueller really knows how big the Russia investigation is.

“[We think] we’re looking at an elephant, but all we see is a toenail… we just don’t know what we don’t know.”

To hear more from Keith on Detroit Today, click on the audio player above.

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