Congress Votes to Avert a Shutdown

Does anyone wonder how Congress would pass a tax cut that will add $1.5 Trillion to the national debt and pass a bill to avoid a government shutdown the very next day?    Wonder no more as Congress did just that this week by passing an emergency spending bill one day before federal spending was set to expire.  Stranger still, is that this will keep the government funded only through January 19, 2018, so we will be hearing about this again very soon.   The Reuters post below describes the facts of the current funding bill.   On the political side of things, the Washington Post article describes how the Trump administration might view a shutdown helping the president on his stance on immigration -- stay tuned.

U.S. Congress votes to avert shutdown, sends Trump stopgap spending bill Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress on Thursday averted a government shutdown just one day before federal funding was due to expire, sending President Donald Trump a bill to provide just enough money to keep agencies operating through Jan. 19. With lawmakers eager to begin a holiday recess until Jan. 3, the House of Representatives and Senate scurried to pass the hastily written bill by votes of 231-188 and 66-32, respectively. When Congress returns, lawmakers will immediately have to get back to work on appropriating more money for a fiscal year that already will be three months old. They will try to pass an “omnibus” spending bill to fund the government from Jan. 19 through Sept. 30. <more>

Trump tells confidants that a government shutdown might be good for him By Josh Dawsey, Sean Sullivan and Ed O'Keefe (Washington Post) President Trump has told confidants that a government shutdown could be good for him politically and is focusing on his hard-line immigration stance as a way to win back supporters unhappy with his outreach to Democrats this fall, according to people who have spoken with him recently. Over the past 10 days, the president has also told advisers that it is important that he is seen as tough on immigration and getting money for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to two people who have spoken with him. He has asked friends about how a shutdown would affect him politically and has told several people he would put the blame on Democrats. <more>