Amid the chaos of tariffs, trade wars, stock market slumps, and global conflicts, is the US government headed for a shutdown on Friday? The Senate is struggling to reach an agreement on a funding bill that would keep the government going after the House passed a continuing resolution, a stopgap measure, to do just that – at least in the short run.
The resolution needs 60 votes to pass in the Senate, which means Republicans need to convince at least eight Democrats to get on board. If the Dems play ball, the government stays open, but Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency get a win – one that will allow them to keep pursuing their agenda and gutting so much of the government Congress is looking to fund.
Democrats would prefer a shorter continuing resolution for one month instead of the six months in the Republican plan since the stopgap funding measure doesn’t come with the robust Congressional oversight on spending that a regular budget bill would. The showdown also represents a broader struggle, not just between Republicans and Democrats, but also between Congress and a White House that is asserting – and extending – its power, testing the limits of lawmakers and the law.
But the Dems don’t appear to be united and are expected to ultimately back the continuing resolution, thus averting a government shutdown. They will likely do this not by voting for it, but by allowing the CR to pass with a simple majority. They also may try to save face first by voting on their own, shorter-period, temporary funding bill, though it will never pass.
