Not only does Congress have just hours left in the deadline to fund the federal government, it now has to contend with a snowbird itching to get to warm weather.
President Donald Trump was planning to leave D.C. this afternoon to head to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida but has postponed a scheduled trip until a deal gets done.
So this is new: a WH official tells pool the president “will not be going to Florida until the CR passes.”@POTUS had originally been set to leave for Mar-a-Lago this afternoon.
— Hallie Jackson (@HallieJackson) January 19, 2018
Trump likewise had some words for Americans concerned about the state of the U.S. government.
“Shutdown coming?” he asked.
Government Funding Bill past last night in the House of Representatives. Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate – but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2018
Late last night, the House passed a short-term spending bill to fund the government through Feb. 16. It barely happened after a revolt by the House Freedom Caucus, which has been a thorn in Republicans side for the past year. After securing a future vote on tightening immigration laws from Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), the bill passed 230-197, reports the Washington Post.
It is not, however, clear the bill has enough Democratic support to pass the Senate. The spending bill needs nine Democrats to break rank, which is giving Republicans, who control both houses of Congress and the presidency, a chance to try and place the focus of an impending shutdown on the opposition party.
“My Democratic colleagues’ demands on illegal immigration, at the behest of their far-left base, have crowded out all other important business,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said. “They are threatening to crowd out the needs of veterans, military families, opioid treatment centers, and every other American who relies on the federal government—all over illegal immigration.”
That Democrats are at fault for this mess has been a sentiment echoed by the president, despite this entire drama stemming from his decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program back in September.
A government shutdown will be devastating to our military…something the Dems care very little about!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018
The RNC is already branding it the “Schumer Shutdown,” placing the blame squarely on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Senate Democrats are proud to have the votes to shut the government down. Their reason for opposing a government funding bill that fully funds the health care program for 9 million American children? Because there has yet to be a deal on the fate of a program that protects 700,000 illegal immigrants (a program that doesn’t expire until March).
Sounds like a solid strategy for all the red-state Senate Democrats up for election in 2018. Good luck with that. #SchumerShutdown
Democrats have been adamant that any deal to fund the government address DACA and the 700,000 people who have been left in limbo since Trump’s decision. And it was Trump who, last Thursday, scuttled a deal on immigration with his “shithole” comment, which has left members of both parties scrambling.
“The one thing standing in our way is the unrelenting flow of chaos from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue,” Schumer said. “It has reduced the Republicans to shambles. We barely know who to negotiate with.”
Which is true. While Trump has been railing against a government shutdown over the past week, he once called for a shutdown to happen to “fix the mess.”
either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%. Our country needs a good “shutdown” in September to fix mess!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2017
The government is slated to shut down at midnight unless the Senate passes the resolution.
