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HC Wake-Up Call: Michelle Obama Says ‘Leaning In’ Doesn’t Work, Congress Seeks Extension to Delay Shutdown & Trump Says Cohen Should Go to Prison

Emily Veith

Good morning, Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.

But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)

Michelle Obama Drops Expletive When Explaining That “Leaning In” Doesn’t Work

Former First Lady Michelle Obama made it pretty clear over the weekend that when it comes to work-life balance and marriage equality for women, “leaning in” doesn’t always work, saying “that sh*t doesn’t work all the time.”

“Marriage still ain’t equal, y’all,” Obama said during an event in Brooklyn on Saturday, as part of her international book tour for her memoir Becoming, CNN reports. “It ain’t equal. I tell women that whole ‘you can have it all’ — mmm, nope, not at the same time, that’s a lie. It’s not always enough to lean in because that sh*t doesn’t work all the time.”

According to The Huffington Post, the crowd of 19,000 erupted in laughter when the former first lady dropped the expletive.

“I forgot where I was for a moment!” Obama added quickly. “I thought we were at home, y’all. I was gettin’ real comfortable up in here. All right, I’m back now. Sometimes that stuff doesn’t work.”

The former first lady appeared to be disagreeing with Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg’s feminist philosophy encouraging women to be more ambitious, which she discusses in her book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. Sandberg argued that women could “have it all” — family, career and happiness — if they worked hard enough.

According to HuffPost, Sandberg even later admitted that “leaning in” hasn’t been as effective as she had hoped it would be.

Congress Seeks Extension to Delay Government Shutdown

Congressional leaders are attempting to delay a potential government shutdown with a two-week funding bill introduced Monday after ceremonies honoring former President George H.W. Bush, who passed away Friday, brought business at the Capitol to a halt. The bill will extend government funding until December 21st, two weeks later than the Friday deadline for funding for a portion of the government, including the Department of Homeland Security.

According to Politico, congressional leaders are hoping that this extra negotiating time will help to come up with a resolution to their standoff with President Donald Trump over his demand for $5 billion to build the border wall between the United States and Mexico.

While the two-week spending bill does buy some times for the two sides to come to an agreement, it doesn’t mean that they will reach a consensus on the border wall.

According to ABC News, Trump kept up the pressure Monday for Democrats to fund the border wall and threatened actions to deter illegal immigration.

“We would save Billions of Dollars if the Democrats would give us the votes to build the Wall,” Trump tweeted Monday, but did not provide evidence. “Either way, people will NOT be allowed into our Country illegally! We will close the entire Southern Border if necessary.”

Democrats had preferred a one-week extension, but said they would not oppose the two-week delay. Trump also made it clear that he would support the funding extension to allow for ceremonies to honor Bush.

Democrats are not interested in providing Trump with the $5 billion he is seeking for the border wall. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has said that he will not budge from the $1.6 billion allocated to border security funding agreed to as part of a budget deal agreed on earlier this year, Politico reports. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who is set to become the next Speaker of the House, isn’t interested in providing any money for the border wall. Many of Pelosi’s Democratic colleagues, especially incoming Democratic representatives, have pressed her to block funding for the border wall, and since she will need nearly every Democratic vote to gain the speakership, it’ll make negotiations more limited for her.

Schumer and Pelosi were scheduled to have a meeting with the president Tuesday, but Democrats asked to postpone it because of Bush’s funeral. The meeting has been tentatively rescheduled for December 11th, ABC News reports.

Besides the funding bill, Congress is also looking to pass a farm bill and a criminal justice reform package, along with funding for disaster aid after the devastating wildfires in California and Hurricane Michael in the Florida Panhandle, Politico reports.

Trump Says Cohen Should Go to Prison

Michael Cohen, once President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and confidant, is now the center of a tweet storm by the president after Cohen requested leniency in the courts Friday for cooperating with the special counsel.

According to ABC News, Cohen pleaded guilty to making false statements during his testimony to Congress about the Trump Organization’s dealings with Russia. He had previously pleaded guilty to six felonies associated with his own business dealings and two felonies for campaign finance violations.

Cohen’s attorneys requested Friday that Cohen be sentenced to “time served” in a 29-page sentence filing, saying that Cohen had cooperated with prosecutors, and due to the toll this has taken on his family and the attacks he has had to endure from the president.

“Michael Cohen asks judge for no Prison Time.” You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term?” Trump wrote on Twitter Monday, blasting Cohen. “He makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself, and get…..his wife and father-in-law (who has the money?) off Scott Free. He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.”

Trump, however, praised another longtime adviser, Roger Stone, on Monday for saying that he wouldn’t testify against him, ABC News reports.

“‘I will never testify against Trump.’ This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about ‘President Trump.’ Nice to know that some people still have ‘guts!’,” Trump tweeted.

Stone recently appeared on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos and said he would not go against the president.

What to look out for…

Hallmark is expanding their holiday content, with the network announcing that it will be airing two new Hanukkah-themed movies next year!

Emily has also authored political articles for Restless Magazine and numerous inspirational and empowering pieces for Project Wednesday. When she isn't writing, she can be found flying off to her next adventure, attempting new recipes, listening to one of her infinite playlists on Spotify, or cuddling with her dogs. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter @emilycveith.