Why President Trump Cut a Deal with Democrats

Maybe it was retribution for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s healthcare failure. Maybe it was a desire to keep the focus on hurricane response. Perhaps he didn’t fully understand the magnitude of what he was doing. Whatever the reason, President Trump’s decision Wednesday to cut a deal with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi over the objections of his Republican allies has the GOP fuming, and Democrats gleeful at their newfound influence. The agreement to fund a down-payment on hurricane disaster relief in the same legislative package that would raise the debt limit and keep the government open til December, sets up another major fiscal showdown at the end of the year. Republican leadership is upset that they were blindsided in the room. “Everyone with an ‘R’ behind their name including the president’s Treasury Secretary, wanted to see debt limit extended for longer,” a person briefed on the meeting said. And conservative lawmakers are livid with the agreement—which both hands leverage to Democrats and breaches longstanding GOP concerns about deficits. There are probably enough Republican “yes” votes to go along with Democrats to pass the bill, but it marks a potential sea change in the relationship between Trump and his party.

What’s clear is that, above all else, Trump wanted a legislative victory—really, anything he could call a victory—and had essentially no concerns about its substance. His legislative agenda of health care and tax reform has been stalled for months, the former perhaps permanently, leaving his poll numbers suffering, Trump wanted to secure a feel-good moment. And it came at the expense of his own party. The move confirmed some of Republicans’ worst fears about their president and his commitment to his adoptive party. The GOP had always feared that Trump would try to cut deals with Democrats in search of positive headlines, and on Wednesday he did. Trump’s lack of ideological rigidity and desire to get along with people in private already had him abandoning his calls for border wall funding in the so-called continuing resolution. Now, Trump handed Schumer and Democrats the agenda in December, allowing them to use the full magnitude of fiscal pressure points to push Trump to embrace their priorities. It means that by the end of the year, a Republican White House and Congress could find itself stabilizing the Affordable Care Act marketplaces and providing a permanent fix for legal status for about 800,000 people brought to the U.S. illegally as children, all without securing significant deficit reduction or tax reform. Republicans made far better deals under President Obama.

This week’s cover of TIME is a special report on Firsts: women who are changing the world. Among the political leaders featured: Madeleine Albright, Kellyanne Conway, Nikki Haley, Carla Hayden, Mazie Hirono, Loretta Lynch, Ilhan Omar, Nancy Pelosi and Janet Yellen. The project includes candid video interviews available online at at Time.com/Firsts and a hardcover book that can be pre-ordered at the TIME Shop.

Here are your must reads:

Must Reads

TIME Exclusive: Hillary Rodham Clinton
The first woman to win a major party’s nomination for President speaks for TIME Firsts

President Trump Unlikely to Nominate Gary Cohn to Become Fed Chairman
Cohn’s chances dropped after he criticized Trump’s response to the Charlottesville protests, according to people familiar with the president’s thinking [Wall Street Journal]

Donald Trump Jr. Heads to Capitol to Explain 2016 Meeting
Lawmakers are listening [Associated Press]

Russian Firm Tied to Pro-Kremlin Propaganda Advertised on Facebook During Election
Some boosted Trump [Washington Post]

Trump’s Surprise Deal With Democrats Sets Up Christmas Showdown
Debt-limit move undercuts Mnuchin, Republicans in Congress [Bloomberg]

The Philosopher King
TIME’s Katy Steinmetz profile’s California Gov. Jerry Brown

Russia Has Launched a Fake News War on Europe
Now Germany Is Fighting Back [TIME]

Sound Off

“The bishops have been terrible about this. By the way, you know why? You know why? Because unable to really– to– to– to come to grips with the problems in the Church, they need illegal aliens, they need illegal aliens to fill the churches. That’s– it’s obvious on the face of it. That’s what– the entire Catholic Bishops condemn him.” — Former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon to CBS News on Catholic Bishops’ support for DACA

“No second thoughts.” — Trump to reporters on DACA, even as he appeared to be wavering on the issue

Bits and Bites

Houston After Harvey [TIME]

‘It Really Was All Hands on Deck.’ How Federal Health Officials Responded to Hurricane Harvey [TIME]

Buried in backlog, Feds give top-secret clearances to murderers, rapists [McClatchy]

For Conservatives, Trump’s Deal With Democrats Is Nightmare Come True [New York Times]

Trump to host full Cabinet at Camp David [CNN]

Behind North Korea’s Nuclear Advance: Scientists Who Bring Technology Home [Wall Street Journal]

The Story Behind That Viral Photo of Donald Trump and Chuck Schumer in the Oval Office [TIME]

15 States and Washington D.C. Are Suing the Trump Administration Over Plan to End DACA [Associated Press]

Hundreds of EPA Workers Leave in Recent Days [Wall Street Journal]

A U.S. Commander’s Year on the Front Line Against ISIS In Iraq and Syria [TIME]

DeVos to revamp Obama-era schools sexual assault policy [Politico]

Freedom Caucus leaders vent to Paul Ryan after talks with Steve Bannon [Washington Post]