The White House-2017 Washington RP

[Dentali]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"Who are these people, anyways? How did they get allowed on the floor?" Reed asked.

"White House employees, the White House is a large operation, they have clearance necessary to be on the floor and the Senators have enough interns and assistants that for the most part they blend in. I only started sending them in recently when I began having concerns about Winslow supporting us."

[Prolieum]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"Do you have any particular thoughts on Winslow's motivations?" Reed inquired.

[Dentali]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"Do you have any particular thoughts on Winslow's motivations?" Reed inquired.

"I have no idea, sometimes she just doesn't seemed engaged other times I think she is trying not to piss off Amaras and the far right."

[Prolieum]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"I think we have to look at risk versus reward here. Right now, the situation isn't ideal, but it's not a disaster either. Mondale was still confirmed, and that was after she said some things that, frankly, would have made me vote against if I was a Senator. A close margin is not the best, but it could have been worse, and if what you're suggesting is a coup against the Senate's Majority Leader, there's a lot of downhill that might come after that," Reed surmised.

[Dentali]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"I think we have to look at risk versus reward here. Right now, the situation isn't ideal, but it's not a disaster either. Mondale was still confirmed, and that was after she said some things that, frankly, would have made me vote against if I was a Senator. A close margin is not the best, but it could have been worse, and if what you're suggesting is a coup against the Senate's Majority Leader, there's a lot of downhill that might come after that," Reed surmised.

"Youre not wrong" Simon said with a sigh "I just dont have the ability to whip votes any more than I already have. I managed to play a bunch of Senators by promising them things the administration intended to to anyway, but their is no guarantee I can do that again. Next time we need to make a push I honestly don't think we have the firepower to get legislation through without more allies in the Senate. But if we don't go nuclear I think we should take the less severe option and make a suggestion for a temporary Senate Whip."

[Prolieum]

June, 2017

Oval Office

Reed folded his hands, and took a little too long to come up with his response, internally conflicted and with his mark hazier than when the conversation had started, showing some indecision in the delay.

"...."

He finally sighed, and just asked outright.

"What do we know now about...well, about the status of the current whip?"

[Dentali]

June, 2017

Oval Office

Reed folded his hands, and took a little too long to come up with his response, internally conflicted and with his mark hazier than when the conversation had started, showing some indecision in the delay.

"...."

He finally sighed, and just asked outright.

"What do we know now about...well, about the status of the current whip?"

"Nothing new, the family and friends are remaining tight lipped about it and asking for privacy. But we are at a point where we need someone to fill the role temporarily."

[Prolieum]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"Have we checked in recently on the medical front?"

"I know I opposed publicizing earlier and stepped away, but if she's recovering, even if she's not the same, after what she's been through, that's a powerful voice," he theorized.

[Dentali]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"Have we checked in recently on the medical front?"

"I know I opposed publicizing earlier and stepped away, but if she's recovering, even if she's not the same, after what she's been through, that's a powerful voice," he theorized.

"I've asked privately several times but have been rebuffed. But a direct inquiry from the President inquiring about her health might be helpful. I agree it would be powerful but I don't think we should go there until we know what kind of condition she is in."

[Prolieum]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"It would clue in the media, too. Too distinctive."

Cal re-steepled his fingers, pondering.

"What if we split the difference? See if Aubrey can get any information, see her?"

[Dentali]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"It would clue in the media, too. Too distinctive."

Cal re-steepled his fingers, pondering.

"What if we split the difference? See if Aubrey can get any information, see her?"

Simon looks a bit surprised "I hadn't thought of that, its a good idea. I still think we should keep it private as to where she is, out of respect but we could say Mrs Reed is visiting her."

[Prolieum]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"I wouldn't preemptively announce it so there's less chance of it turning into a circus, but I agree, keep it private, just tell them its a visit if someone digs it up-that is what it is anyways," Reed replied.

[Dentali]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"I wouldn't preemptively announce it so there's less chance of it turning into a circus, but I agree, keep it private, just tell them its a visit if someone digs it up-that is what it is anyways," Reed replied.

“I agree with that plan, can you ask Mrs Reed as soon as possible?”

[Prolieum]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"Of course," Reed replied.

He paused a moment. "It wouldn't be any trouble to just call her up right now. I think she's still in the training room."

[Dentali]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"Of course," Reed replied.

He paused a moment. "It wouldn't be any trouble to just call her up right now. I think she's still in the training room."

“Let’s finish our meeting first, who knows we might have multiple things for her by the end.”

[Prolieum]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"Sounds fair," Reed agreed. "Should we move on to the speech?"

[Dentali]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"Sounds fair," Reed agreed. "Should we move on to the speech?"

“The not state of the union? Yes sure. I gave you my notes on some of the language, generally just using slight adjustments to language to portray a bit more confidence. Overall the speech is pretty good, my main criticism is more what it doesn’t say rather than what it does. Namely I think the speech should set an agenda for congress and the nation. I also think we could incorporate guests into the speech. The Presidents guest booth is a place of honor, we place in there someone who has an inspiring personal story related to an achievement in the presidency so far, for instance in talking about ISIS we find someone wounded in action fighting ISIS and doing something heroic, then when that segment comes up in the speech you tell their story and thank them for their service.”

[Prolieum]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"I'm not really a fan of that label for it, to be honest. It's a joint address, talks about how things have gone, but, I suppose I don't have a concrete difference to cite, but I don't want it to be a halfway State of the Union, and then do a full one again in six months. I don't want to turn it into something it isn't, basically. The guests and stories-if I'm going to keep being honest here, they've always seemed like political props to me, added on to get applause, but even if I didn't think that, that's still very much a State of the Union style, same with agenda-setting," Reed replied.

[Dentali]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"I'm not really a fan of that label for it, to be honest. It's a joint address, talks about how things have gone, but, I suppose I don't have a concrete difference to cite, but I don't want it to be a halfway State of the Union, and then do a full one again in six months. I don't want to turn it into something it isn't, basically. The guests and stories-if I'm going to keep being honest here, they've always seemed like political props to me, added on to get applause, but even if I didn't think that, that's still very much a State of the Union style, same with agenda-setting," Reed replied.

“If you really don’t want this to be a state of the union that’s fine. But if I may ask, what is your objective for the speech? What do you want to accomplish?”

[Prolieum]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"If you want it cut down as short as possible, it's getting a unifying message out there, and getting the rollout rolled out. It's a good chance going into the Fourth to try to emphasize some good feelings, and this seems like the best chance to do that," Reed replied.

[Dentali]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"If you want it cut down as short as possible, it's getting a unifying message out there, and getting the rollout rolled out. It's a good chance going into the Fourth to try to emphasize some good feelings, and this seems like the best chance to do that," Reed replied.

"Unity alright we can work with that, with your permission I would like to send some surrogates out on the alphabet networks to make sure expectations are appropriate regarding this NOT being a State of the Union. I would also still like to pick at least one more issue for the conservative base to get behind, in light of our problems in the Senate."

"Here are some options; Regulatory reform, Renegotiating outdated trade deals, Energy Independence, Human Trafficking. All things you can do unilaterally via the executive."

[Prolieum]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"I don't see that as necessary. The line about this not being a State of the Union is accurate, but pushing it comes off to me as looking like we're trying to lower expectations, I would expect at least some to run with that idea. We're not announcing it as a State of the Union, and it should be able to stand on its own," Reed stated.

"I think the base has plenty to be happy about with what we've accomplished, and I'll be going over that to start. I don't see a reason to crowbar in something more partisan and throw the message off when we should get some high marks just from showing what we've already done."

[Dentali]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"I don't see that as necessary. The line about this not being a State of the Union is accurate, but pushing it comes off to me as looking like we're trying to lower expectations, I would expect at least some to run with that idea. We're not announcing it as a State of the Union, and it should be able to stand on its own," Reed stated.

"I think the base has plenty to be happy about with what we've accomplished, and I'll be going over that to start. I don't see a reason to crowbar in something more partisan and throw the message off when we should get some high marks just from showing what we've already done."

"Mr. President with all due respect the actions of the Senate on many votes do not bear that out. We have a supermajority and we should not be having votes this close. The constitutional amendment to the pardon power of the constitution was a direct rebuke of this administration. Please Mr. President I cannot emphasize the danger enough, we are not there yet but we are trending towards very dangerous waters."

[Prolieum]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"A reminder of what's actually been done, the things we can show as accomplishments, is stronger than putting something on an agenda that may not even happen. How many Republicans and Republican candidates can say that they promised a flat tax? Tons of them. How many of them can say that they actually passed a balanced budget amendment? None, now, one."

"I'm not happy about that new amendment at all, but I think we knew that there would be some spots where disagreement might not be avoidable, Rainden ended up being one of them. But even with that, especially with that, I'm a lot more confident that a reminder of all we've accomplished will do more to help bring members of Congress on board than an agenda piece on a different topic will have them coming over on those tougher spots," the President concluded.

[Dentali]

June, 2017

Oval Office

"A reminder of what's actually been done, the things we can show as accomplishments, is stronger than putting something on an agenda that may not even happen. How many Republicans and Republican candidates can say that they promised a flat tax? Tons of them. How many of them can say that they actually passed a balanced budget amendment? None, now, one."

"I'm not happy about that new amendment at all, but I think we knew that there would be some spots where disagreement might not be avoidable, Rainden ended up being one of them. But even with that, especially with that, I'm a lot more confident that a reminder of all we've accomplished will do more to help bring members of Congress on board than an agenda piece on a different topic will have them coming over on those tougher spots," the President concluded.

"Mr. President the passing of the BBA was a massive achievement, but it was not without opposition even from those that supported it on paper. Prior to the 2016 election I would not have though it actually possible. It expanded massive political capital and the transition towards a balanced budget is going to be difficult, we need more capital going into the upcoming budget fight."