GOV'T SHUTHOLE
Epic fail to keep it open
The Senate failed to approve a temporary spending bill in a tense standoff late Friday night — forcing an embarrassing government shutdown on the eve of the first anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration.
Last-minute negotiations failed as the stopgap funding measure fell well short of the 60 Senate votes needed to keep the federal government in business.
The White House quickly laid the blame at the feet of the minority Democratic Party.
“Senate Democrats own the Schumer Shutdown,” the White House said in a statement referring to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY).
“Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country’s ability to serve all Americans.”
Schumer shot back on the Sen- ate floor after the vote went down in flames.
“The blame should crash entirely on President Trump’s shoulders,” Schumer said.
“This will be called the Trump shutdown because there is no one, no one who deserves the blame for the position we find ourselves in more than President Trump.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he would continue to work on a resolution to end the shutdown, which would affect hundreds of thousands of government employees — including half of the Pentagon’s civilian staff and half the workforce of the Internal Revenue Service.
If no deal is brokered by Monday, employees will be placed on furlough, or temporary unpaid leave.
However, essential operations such as military, law enforcement and mail delivery will continue to operate in a di- minished form.
Social Security and most otherh safety net programs are unaffected by the shutdown.
After hours of closed-door meetings and phone calls, the Senate scheduled its late-night vote on a House-passed plan.
It gained only 50 of the 60 needed to break a Democratic filibuster.
A handful of red-state Democrats crossed the aisle to support the measure, rather than take a political risk. Four Republicans voted in opposition.
The failed measure had included a six-year funding extension for the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program.
The vast majority of Democrats balked at the measure because it did not include a safeguard for the country’s 700,000 “Dreamers,” who were given temporary protected status under President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The program was repealed by the White House iin September and will sunset in March without a congressional agreement.
Senate Republicans, who with the absence of John McCain held a tenuous, one-seat majority, had needed as many as a dozen Democratic crossover votes to float the four-week stopgap.
The impact of a government shutdown would not be felt until after federal offices reopen on Monday, leaving Saturday and Sunday for continued negotiations.
Trump was scheduled to attend a lavish fund-rasier at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday night. That trip was in jeopardy because of the legislative impasse.
The 2013 shutdown lasted for 16 days as Republicans tried to leverage changes to ObamaCare.
More than 800,000 government workers were put on temporary unpaid leave, later receiving retroactive pay.