PrairiePundit

Washington Examiner: President Trump said Thursday he was canceling an upcoming overseas trip for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi due to the government shutdown, just a day after Pelosi threatened to cancel Trump's State of the Union address later this month. Pelosi, D-Calif., was scheduled to travel to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan for seven days, but Trump informed Pelosi in a letter Thursday the trip was canceled. Trump indicated he was canceling Pelosi's access to a government or military plane for the trip, as he suggested Pelosi might still attend if she were to fly commercial. "Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed," Trump wrote. "We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over." “In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate,” Trump ad...

Washington Post: Betsy DeVos uses her own plane when she travels — and never bills the government, spokesperson says The travel of President Trump’s Cabinet members has come under scrutiny after reports about their use of noncommercial flights for travel at immense cost to taxpayers. Some in the media were looking for another way to attack the Trump administration and seized on air travel by appointees.  DeVos  does not fit the profile they were trying to establish.  It is interesting that they are trying to make a story out of this when they were making excuses for Nancy Pelosi's expensive flights on government aircraft when she was Speaker of the House.

Richard Miniter: THURSDAY morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped out of her Georgetown home and into a government-owned black Chevy Tahoe SUV. That gas-guzzler truck took her directly to the Rayburn House Office Building - where she was the lead witness at a Science and Technology Committee hearing on global warming. This, the day after word broke of Pelosi's request for regular use of a U.S. Air Force C-32 - the same plane that flies the vice president and first lady. She wants to travel in luxury. The Air Force jet is the same size and airframe as the Boeing 757-200, which carries about 300 passengers. The C-32 boasts 42 business-class seats - plus a wood-paneled state room, big-screen TV, full-size bed and crew of 16, including uniformed stewards who bring drinks and meals on request. Oh, and an open bar. Cost to taxpayers? Some $15,000 an hour. A round-trip to Rep. Pelosi's home in San Francisco could easily run $300,000. Meanwhile, the same flight on a commercial jet ...

CBS/AP: Addressing a swarm of reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded to the controversy over her desire to fly in an Air Force transport plane by saying that she would have no problem flying commercially if a secure military plane is not offered. "I have told them that I will travel cross-country, non-stop commercially as I have done and always done probably — how many times — a thousand times since I've been in Congress, so this will be nothing new to me," Pelosi said. The White House defended the Democratic leader of the House against Republican criticism that her desire to fly in an Air Force transport plane is an extravagance. "This is a silly story and I think it's been unfair to the speaker," White House spokesman Tony Snow said. ... In an interview with Fox News television Thursday, Pelosi speculated that Department of Defense officials were distorting the story as retribution for her stance against the war and for...