Mick Mulvaney was the guest speaker at the White House press briefing today. Where Mulvaney has gotten most attention is as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), his real, Senate-confirmed job is as head of the Office of Management and Budget.

It is in that latter capacity that he was acting today. The issue of the GOP framing the impending shutdown of the federal government as the “Schumer shutdown” caused an epic smackdown of CNN”s goofy White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, by Mick Mulvaney.

ACOSTA: You said this was the ‘Schumer shutdown.” How can it be the ‘Schumer shutdown’ when Republicans control the White House, the House, and the Senate?

At this time we have a public service announcement on behalf of the Founding Fathers and Article I of the US Constitution.

MULVANEY: Come on, you know the answer to that as well as I anybody. I have to laugh when people say that. Oh, we control the House, the Senate, the White House, why can’t you get this done?

ACOSTA: [puts on his Rain Man face and shrugs] You do, you do.

MULVANEY: You know as well as anybody that it takes sixty votes in the Senate to pass an appropriations bill, you know that?

ACOSTA: I know that.

At this point a man with any sense of dignity would have apologized for trying to engage in a half-witted troll and being caught so easy. But we are talking about Jim Acosta here. A man who long ago cast aside any pretense at manhood or integrity.

MULVANEY: But if you only have fifty-one votes in the Senate you have to have Democrat support…

ACOSTA [sagely nods blow-dried head in agreement. Again, another great chance to cut ones’ losses.]

MULVANEY: in order to keep the government… to fund the government. So that’s the answer to your question.

Acosta violates the First Rule of Holes but exercises the First Rule of A**holes:

ACOSTA: The President asked Congress to come up with a solution for the DREAMers. Congress was in the room. Members of Congress were in the room with the President last week.

MULVANEY gives ACOSTA that snake-looking-at-a-nestling look.

ACOSTA: It seemed to be a fairly productive meeting. And the whole process got blown up.

MULVANEY: When Republicans try to…

ACOSTA [waves hands knowingly and adopts snarky, condescending tone]: If I man… It seems that the whole process was blown up by the President’s comments…

MULVANEY: When Republicans tried to add a discussion about ObamaCare to the funding process for 2013 we were accused by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer of inserting a non-fiscal, a non-financial issue into the spending process in order to shut the government down. How is that not exactly what is happening today.

There is no reason to have to deal with DACA this wee. There is no reason you have to deal with DACA before the end of February, excuse me, the middle of February. DACA doesn’t expire until March 5. This is purely an attempt by the Senate Democrats, led by Mister Schumer, that’s why we call it the ‘Schumer shutdown,’ in order to try and get a shutdown that they think this president gets blamed for.

Awesome. Just awesome.