On brink of a shutdown

Dems hold cards

Senate Democrats said Thursday they had enough votes to block a GOP shortterm budget deal — increasing the likelihood of a government shutdown as a late-Friday-night deadline loomed.

A senior Senate Democratic aide told The Washington Post it was “almost certain” that a spending extension does not have the votes to pass the upper chamber.

Democrats want the bill to include relief for the “Dreamers,” immigrants brought here illegally as children and who were protected by Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive order, which President Trump rescinded.

Trump and immigration hard-liners in Congress want to deal with DACA at a later date.

With the 49-member Democratic caucus standing firm and some Republican senators also opposing the short-term spending plan for various reasons, the chance of averting a shutdown looked dim, despite a divided House on Thursday night passing a stopgap measure that would keep the government funded and running through Feb. 16.

The House approved the measure by a near partyline 230-197 vote.

The accord passed only after House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) appeased balky hard-right Freedom Caucus members by promising future votes on additional defense spending and a more restrictive immigration bill.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will now have to get about a dozen Democratic votes — an unlikely prospect — to reach the 60 needed to avoid a shutdown.

Trump also threw a wrench into the negotiations Thursday morning by tweeting that the Children’s Health Insurance Program should not be part of a short-term deal, putting him at odds with his own administration’s stated policy.

Trump says that if there is a shutdown, Dems would be to blame, even though the GOP controls both houses of Congress along with the presidency.