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Turns out that Individual 1 is an even easier mark for the House Freedom Caucus than Paul Ryan was. Now that alum Mick Mulvaney has taken on his umpteenth job in Trump's White House, now as acting chief of staff, it has a direct line of influence—even better than Fox & Friends’, because he can be the voice in Trump's head all day long.
In fact, Mulvaney is the one "egging on the president in his confrontation with congressional Democrats over a border wall," according to Politico's sources—"one source close to Mulvaney and one administration official." Chances are that first source is one of the maniacs themselves, who have to be crowing over this coup.
Mulvaney might be a maniac, but he's not stupid. He "served as one of the president’s few companions in what Trump himself described as an empty and lonely White House over the holidays, working out of the West Wing when most White House aides were on vacation or furloughed as part of the partial shutdown Trump has precipitated." All the better to increase his influence.
Mulvaney's machinations are extreme; he had to have been instrumental in keeping Trump off the golf course over the Christmas break. Trump has gone without golf now for a record 39 days. Now, we don't know that Mulvaney is responsible for keeping him away from that release valve over the holidays, but Trump himself isn't smart enough to come up with what he supposedly told advisers over the break, that it would be "political suicide to travel to Mar-a-Lago during the shutdown, or even play golf at his resort outside of Washington."
Now that's just speculation, but what is very clear is that Mulvaney has held undue influence over Trump from the beginning. The Freedom Caucus can't do a damned thing in the House anymore, not with Nancy Pelosi in charge. But now they have the White House.