In an effort to avoid another government shutdown, Senate leaders Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer reached a two-year spending deal on Wednesday, but the deal seems certain to reach roadblocks in the House. The deal arrives after President Trump encouraged another shutdown if his hardline immigration demands were not met, but it appears that McConnell and Schumer are trying to keep the government chugging along, at least for the time being.
The two-year deal doesn’t include DACA protections and sets spending levels on military and domestic spending, while also adding to the ever-growing deficit, a concern that appears to have been abandoned in the name of avoiding another shutdown. However, there are some positives in the deal:
It includes commitments to dedicate billions of dollars to areas like infrastructure, the opioid crisis, V.A. hospitals and health research, according to a person briefed on the agreement. It also includes disaster relief for areas hit by last year’s hurricanes and wildfires.
Unfortunately for the Senate leaders, the deal faces opposition in the House. Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi has already said that she cannot and will not support any deal that doesn’t include legal protections for Dreamers — unless Speaker of the House Paul Ryan commits to a similar promise as the one McConell made in order to end the government shutdown in January.
Speaker Ryan did not do much to assuage Pelosi, saying through a spokesperson that he “has already repeatedly stated we intend to do a DACA and immigration reform bill — one that the president supports.”
(Via New York Times & Washington Post)