New president, same old government brinkmanship
WASHINGTON >> There’s an unconventional new president in the White House. And the Republicans now have a new lock on both ends of Washington’s Pennsylvania Avenue. But the capital city is still up to its old gridlock tricks.
Just as occurred repeatedly during the Obama administration, the government is only days away from a shutdown, and Congress and the White House are engaged in familiar partisan brinkmanship.
How little has really changed under President Donald Trump.
Some of the issues are different this time around as lawmakers scramble to finish up the annual government-wide spending bills that are Congress’ most basic function. The $1 trillion catch-all legislation for the remainder of the 2017 budget year is leftover business from last year and comes due Friday at midnight.
Without action before then, the government will partially shut down Saturday, which happens to be the 100th day of Trump’s presidency.
Will that happen? Lawmakers do not expect a shutdown.
Instead, a very shortterm extension of existing funding levels is likely. Such “continuing resolutions” are familiar on Capitol Hill when Congress needs a little more time to complete its business, yet signing one to keep the government running while Trump marks his 100th day in office is an ignominious position for him.
The difficulties point to a weakness of Trump’s administration, some Republicans privately say: Despite his self-proclaimed dealmaking prowess, he had little exposure to the rituals and rhythms of Congress before to taking office, and his team is light on experienced legislative hands. The former lawmakers he has brought on board, such as Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, were not known for cutting deals during their time on Capitol Hill.
“I’m sure the president has a much better sense of the legislative process than he did a year ago or even 100 days ago, and every president does, no matter how well prepared they think they are for that job,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
“Congress generally works on the calendar not the clock, and when you say that April 28 is going to be the day, I think you have to assume not much gets done before April 28,” Blunt added.
The remainder of the year will only bring more crucial deadlines. Once this year’s federal spending is finally set, bills for the 2018 budget year must be passed. And the government’s borrowing limit needs to be raised or the U.S. risks an unprecedented default this fall.
Under the Obama administration, divisions among Republicans were already causing problems. Over the objections of GOP leaders, a faction of conservatives tried to use must-pass spending bills to promote one pet cause or another, with little to show in the end. An unsuccessful push to “defund Obamacare” led to a 16-day partial shutdown in 2013, temporarily tanking the GOP’s poll numbers.
Having an outsider Republican president in the White House has not eliminated those divisions, as has already become clear from the House’s failure to advance a health care bill.
On the spending legislation the intraparty divisions emerged in a different form, as Trump himself, or at least some of his White House lieutenants, threw a last-minute wrench into negotiations by suddenly demanding money for construction of a border wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.