Negotiators have been working during the break to resolve priorities between the House, Senate and White House to stave off a shutdown if all sides do not agree on a comprehensive spending bill when funding runs out on April 28. This one is not getting as much attention, but, trust me, it’s going to be the battle of the titans. Those include one that now obligates insurers to cover specified services such as for mental health, and one that bars them from raising premiums on seriously ill patients. Congress failed to pass the necessary legislation, and the government closed for two weeks before Republicans came back to the table. The Trump Administration is expected to submit its proposal for the fiscal year 2018 sometime toward the end of May, and the House and Senate will begin drafting spending bills for the various federal agencies.
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The most recent government shutdown occurred in 2013, and lasted 17 days.
It’s government shutdown season again. Senate Republicans could use a process known as budget reconciliation, which would allow for passing a tax bill with a simple majority. But there was an elephant in the room.
We’ve been down this road many times before. Republicans control Congress but need substantial Democratic support on the bill, as a number of conservatives are likely to defect in the House and at least eight Senate Democrats will be needed to avoid a filibuster in the Senate.
Budget director Mick Mulvaney told reporters Friday afternoon that he does not think the government will shut down next week. The outcome, it would seem, was a divisive proposal.
A fight over whether to fund a wall at the U.S. -Mexico border could shut down the government next week. Democratic negotiators are likely to resist providing the down payment that Mulvaney says Trump wants for construction of the wall, but the former GOP congressman from SC adds that “elections have consequences”.
Lawmakers returning to Washington will find a familiar quagmire on health care legislation.
“We have the leverage, and they have the exposure”, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told fellow Democrats on a Thursday conference call, according to a senior Democratic aide. “Right now that’s the offer that we’ve given to our Democratic colleagues”, Mulvaney said.
But one of the most seismic shifts in the wake of Trump’s victory is the backlash against Republicans in elections all over the country.
“There is intense opposition to the wall from Democrats and many Republicans”, Hammill added.
The model of strategic chaos – creating many different targets and never taking on much bloodshed – worked well in the campaign, particularly in a sprawling GOP primary when Trump faced 15 or more opponents. In that vein, Democrats have pursued negotiations with their Republican counterparts in Congress while making clear that, in their view, only late intervention from the administration could scuttle the progress.
Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn has made no secret that he does not support funding Trump’s wall, pointing out repeatedly that the gigantic and hugely expensive barrier is an unnecessary expense and is ill-advised.
So far, it does not look like a bridgeable gap.
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The White House has said previously that all funding and financing options are being considered.
