Congress scrambles to avoid government shutdown
There are numerous potential pitfalls ahead
House Speaker Paul Ryan insisted that lawmakers would pass a shortterm resolution to keep the government running.
WASHINGTON – One week before funding is set to expire, Congress is scrambling once again to avoid a government shutdown.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., insisted Thursday that lawmakers would pass a short-term resolution to keep the government running at current spending levels past Dec. 8, when the funding measure is set to expire.
Here’s a closer look at what Congress is doing to avoid a government shutdown and the issues that could derail those negotiations:
Immigration
The fate of certain immigrants is perhaps the biggest sticking point for Democrats.
The Trump administration announced in September that it would wind down the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which has shielded immigrants who were brought to the USA illegally as children from deportation. Trump gave Congress a six-month deadline to pass legislation that would preserve the program.
Many Republicans want to pair border security measures with DACA as part of a larger immigration bill. Democrats want to use their leverage in the Senate, where their votes are needed for the must-pass spending bill.
The president
Despite negotiations in Congress, lawmakers never know what the president will tweet that could scuttle their plans.
This week, the president, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, DN.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., were set to meet with Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to discuss a spending solution when the president tweeted that Schumer and Pelosi “want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE taxes. I don’t see a deal!”
Schumer and Pelosi canceled the meeting.
Health care
Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ vote on a separate GOP tax bill is contingent upon the House and Senate passing a pair of bipartisan bills intended to keep health insurance premiums from skyrocketing for those individuals using the exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
The Maine senator said Thursday morning that a spending bill is the likely vehicle for the bill co-sponsored by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., and another she sponsored with Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.