This week Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to flex her muscles against President Donald Trump in the ongoing government shutdown over funding for a wall on the border with Mexico.
Pelosi urged a delay in the annual State of the Union address, set for Jan. 29. She wants him to wait until the government re-opens and cites security concerns brought on by the shutdown.
Republicans called it insincere grandstanding. And it certainly was. Pelosi, though, has the power to make it happen.
President Trump, however, is not the kind of president Pelosi is used to dealing with.
The speaker was set to leave Thursday on a weeklong trip overseas. Until the commander in chief flexed his muscles right back and denied her the use of a military aircraft just hours before she was to leave.
"Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed. We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over," the president said in a letter announcing the decision.
Egypt wasn't on Pelosi's schedule, but let that pass.
The president added that Pelosi was needed in Washington to negotiate stronger border security and an end to the shutdown. But, he said, if she chose to fly commercially that was up to her.
Naturally, the president's supporters cheered and his foes cried foul. Just like when Pelosi pulled her shenanigans.
It's all very entertaining. But while Congress and the president are playing "one-up," there are a lot of government workers trying to make ends meet.
We wonder how they are enjoying this juvenile nonsense.