Prez makes deals with Dems on $$
Debt ceiling gets raised
President Trump continued playing footsie with congressional Democrats — agreeing to a deal with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on a permanent fix to the debt ceiling and tweeting assurances to the “Dreamers” at the request of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
The bizarre turn toward bipartisanship put GOP congressional leaders on edge, as Trump promised even more wheeling and dealing in the future with the two political enemies he once derided as “Fake Tears” Schumer and “incompetent” Pelosi.
“We will have a different relationship than you’ve been watching over the last number of years,” Trump told reporters yesterday. “I think that’s what the people of the United States want to see. They want to see some dialogue.”
Trump came to a “gentlemen’s agreement” with Schumer to permanently eliminate the need for Congress to keep voting on the debt ceiling, according to The Washington Post. The vote to lift the debt ceiling — which allows the federal government to pay its bills — usually descends into a game of political chicken with the nation’s credit rating on the line.
In the short term, Trump also reached a deal with Schumer and Pelosi to raise the debt ceiling for just three months until December, over the objections of House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who wanted a much lengthier extension. That deal was announced Wednesday.
Still, Republicans went along with the unlikely alliance yesterday, as the Senate passed the deal to fund the government and lift the debt ceiling until December — as well as float a $15.3 billion Hurricane Harvey aid package, by a vote of 80-17. The House is expected to vote on it today.
But GOPers were still fuming, if not scratching their heads.
“Yesterday we saw Washington’s swamp continue to rise. Chuck Schumer wrote the art of the steal by taking hurricane relief hostage to guarantee a December showdown that favors Democratic spending priorities,” said Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska.
Trump also raised Republican eyebrows yesterday for a tweet reassuring the 800,000 young immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children, commonly referred to as “Dreamers.”
“For all of those (DACA) that are concerned about your status during the 6 month period, you have nothing to worry about — No action!” Trump tweeted.
Pelosi insisted that Trump had acted on her request that he publicly reassure those affected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals that they wouldn’t be deported before the program starts to wind down in March.
“I was reporting to my colleagues. I said, ‘This is what I asked the president to do,’” Pelosi said at a news conference. “And boom, boom — the tweet appeared.”
Meanwhile, Rasmussen Reports’ daily presidential tracking poll shows Trump’s approval ratings climbing 4 points since Aug. 31 to 45 percent. But a majority — some 54 percent — still disapprove.