On Friday, the House of Representatives passed a temporary spending bill that will keep the government open for another week, buying lawmakers more time to come up with a more permanent funding plan. The last-hour bill was reportedly worked on through Thursday night and into Friday morning to assure there wouldn’t be a halt to any federal functions. With an extra week of crunching numbers and negotiations, a deal that would take the House through the end of their fiscal year, September 30th, remains possible.
The Senate is expected to bring the deal for a vote this afternoon.
With funding for Trump’s infamous U.S.-Mexico border wall being pushed to the back burner, and the GOP’s promise to not defund Obamacare in the near future, negotiations to finalize a spending bill that would take the House to their year end have ramped up. Potentially disastrous talks were sidestepped by the GOP when the group delayed any vote on a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. Had Republicans taken the vote, Democrats promised to oppose any spending bill put in front of them on the table.
Recently, President Trump preemptively blamed the Democrats for a potential shutdown, pointing to their playing of defense on numerous issues as unhealthy and dangerous for the country. In a flurry of tweets, the president claimed Democrats have put up roadblocks in his attempt to rebuild the military, help miners in need of work and healthcare, secure the borders, and keep the government open.
For now, anyway, the stopgap spending deal gives both sides another week to see if they can come to a compromise on government spending.
(Via Washington Post and CBS News)