Let's talk about a government shutdown, funding, and Trump.... - Belle of the Ranch

[TexasTowelie]

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about a government shutdown, funding, and Trump.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 71 to 29 to fund most of the government through September. The bill will head to the House on Monday, and a vote is expected Monday evening. The vote is supposed to happen by 6:30 p.m. This means Speaker Johnson plans on bringing it up under what's known as a suspension of the rules. When a bill is fast-tracked in that manner, it requires a 2/3 majority vote to pass. So, it needs pretty significant Democratic support to move forward.

All of that means that technically this weekend we're in a partial government shutdown right now, but it's unlikely that many people will notice anything. Now, I said most of the government. What isn't getting funded through September? As part of this bill, the Department of Homeland Security only gets funded for two weeks. This time is designed to allow negotiations over how to go about and how much to rein in immigration authorities. The Democratic Party has a list of asks ranging from no masks to ending roving patrols to requiring body cams to be worn and turned on to tighter regulations on warrants to all sorts of things.

As of yet, there doesn't appear to be a coherent list worked out in either chamber, much less a unified one. In the Senate, Schumer said that DHS shouldn't expect funding, "unless it rains in ICE and ends violence."

Over in the House, Jeffries said without meaningful and transformative change, the Republicans will get another government shutdown. Trump wants a deal to be reached and was instrumental in getting the two-week period for negotiations.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are split in a bunch of different ways. Some realize Trump's policies are hurting them. Some don't want to cave. Some genuinely seem concerned about the administration's attacks on the Second Amendment. And some just seem to want Trump to tell them what to do.

For once, the confusion on the Republican side of the aisle in Congress is understandable. They're looking to the administration for cues, but the administration has been sending out mixed messages on the subject all week--from defending people, then sidelining them to having an administration official signal they want to wind down in Minnesota, to only have that seemingly countermanded by Trump himself.

The administration hasn't provided unified messaging, which means Republicans in Congress, most of whom are conditioned to simply do what they're told, don't know what to do. There seems to be a little apprehension about working out a deal with Democrats to restrict ICE, only to have Trump call them RINOs when his mood changes.

There's also worry that Trump is starting to see how badly this is hurting him in the polls. And so Republicans don't want to go out on a limb to push in favor of ICE if Trump bails on the policy.

So, at this point, the Democrats want restrictions, but can't clearly define exactly what they want and Republicans aren't even sure if they're really supposed to negotiate. I'm guessing there's going to be a day or two before there's any real development on this one.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.