Congress stumbles into second shutdown - POLITICO
Description: Resistance from Rand Paul pushes the government over the brink.

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Congress

# Congress stumbles into second shutdown

Resistance from Rand Paul pushes the government over the brink.

Congressional leaders and the White House hope it will be a short shutdown, with a senior Trump administration official saying it should be over "within a few hours." | Saul Loeb/Getty Images

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Washington stumbled into another federal government shutdown at midnight Thursday, after GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky refused to allow a vote on a bipartisan budget deal before the funding deadline.

It’s the second shutdown in three weeks. The only question now is how long it lasts.

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The Office of Personnel Management emailed federal employees shortly after midnight to make it official.

“Due to a lapse in appropriations, Federal government operations vary by agency,” the agency said. “Employees should refer to their home agency for guidance on reporting for duty.”

But congressional leaders and the White House hope it will be a short shutdown, with a senior Trump administration official saying it should be over "within a few hours."

The House and Senate were expected to vote earlier Thursday on the bipartisan budget package, which would jack up federal spending by about $300 billion over two years. The agreement also calls for raising the debt ceiling until March 2019, as well as nearly $90 billion in disaster aid.

But Paul blocked consideration of the measure because he didn't get a vote on an amendment to keep Congress under strict budget caps, as well as stripping the debt limit from the package.

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"There's only so much I can do. This is a silly thing about it. I can keep them here until 3 a.m. I will make them listen to me and they will have to have me to listen to me," Paul said on Fox News. "It is too important for the country not to have a debate."
With a shutdown only hours away, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tried to set up a vote on the budget deal beginning at 6 p.m. But Paul objected.

McConnell pleaded with senators to accept a procedural vote and allow the Senate to move a deal that President Donald Trump backs.

"The president of the United States supports the bill and is waiting to sign it into law. I understand my friend and colleague from Kentucky does not join the president in supporting the bill," McConnell said. "It's his right, of course, to vote against the bill. But I would argue that it's time to vote."

But Paul told POLITICO on Thursday evening that he would not consent to congressional leaders' plan without a vote on his amendment.

Asked if he's worried about singlehandedly inheriting the blame for a shutdown, Paul replied: "No. I think it's an important enough thing that we should have a discussion over."

As long as Paul objects, the Senate can't vote to invoke cloture on the bill before 1 a.m. under procedural rules. Paul can drag the process out for another hour as well post-cloture, delaying final passage in the Senate until roughly 3 a.m.

Even after that, the House will still need several hours to complete its work.

And passage in the House isn't a sure bet either.

Opposition from GOP conservatives is forcing Republican leaders to lean on Democrats for votes even as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) digs in with immigration demands.

"Part of it depends on the Democrats," Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Thursday morning on conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt's show. "This is a bipartisan bill. It’s going to need bipartisan support."

Right now it's unclear how many Democrats will support the bill and the debate is sharply dividing the caucus.

During a two-hour Democratic Caucus meeting on Thursday, Pelosi and party leaders made the case for why members should vote no but weren't twisting arms.

“We have a moment. They don’t have the votes,” Pelosi declared inside the meeting according to two sources. Pelosi said Democrats needed to use their leverage on the budget deal to extract concessions from Ryan on resolving the standoff over Dreamers.

A number of Democrats estimated that between 40 to 60 of their colleagues would support the budget agreement, although Republicans still believe more Democrats will vote for it in the end rather than allow a shutdown to happen.

Rep. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.) warned his Democratic colleagues that donors would not support them if they don’t stand up and fight.

“Right now, I would say that I don’t believe that the Republicans are going to get enough votes from the Democrats to pass this, Gallego said. "They’re going to have to rely very heavily on enough of their votes.”

But Rep. John Yarmuth (Ky.), top Democrat on the Budget Committee, said he would back the budget accord. Yarmuth said he believed Ryan wants a deal on the Dreamers. He also worried Democrats would get blamed for a shutdown.

“That’s my concern," Yarmuth said. "If Republicans had 70 votes and needed 140 from us, then there’s no pressure on us. If they have 170 and we can’t put up 40 to support a bipartisan bill coming from the Senate, then we get blamed for a shutdown.”

"I’m pleased with the product, I’m not pleased with the process," Pelosi told reporters Thursday. "I’m just telling people why I’m voting the way I’m voting."

Primary Source

### We Swore to Defend the United States. But We Can’t Get to Boot Camp Without DACA.

After teasing details of the deal earlier in the day, congressional leaders unveiled the more than 650-page bill just before midnight Wednesday, proposing expansive policy changes and funding bumps for specific programs in every corner of the federal government.

The legislation also would keep the federal government operating through March 23, giving lawmakers time to write an omnibus spending package to fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year.

Top House Republicans believe they will get a “majority of the majority” to support the measure, although the House Freedom Caucus and other deficit hawks are against the proposal. Republicans are hoping for 70-plus Democratic votes. There are 238 House Republicans.

“This is not the kind of deal you celebrate,” said House Budget Chairman Steve Womack (R-Ark.), who explained Wednesday that he had concerns he would be voicing to leadership before divulging whether he will vote for the bill.

Ryan is playing up the big boost in defense spending in order to placate Republicans, while also trying to reassure Pelosi and wavering Democrats that he is resolved to coming up with a solution for Dreamers.

"I know that there is a real commitment to solving the the DACA challenge in both political parties. That's a commitment that I share," Ryan told reporters on Thursday, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. "If anyone doubts my intention to solve this problems and bring up a DACA and immigration reform bill, do not. We will bring a solution to the floor, one the president will sign."

President Donald Trump canceled the program last year and called on Congress to come up with a legislative fix he can support. Despite months of bipartisan talks, congressional leaders have failed to do so, leading to last month's government shutdown and questions over whether Congress can pass a budget caps deal.

### Congressional leaders reach budget deal

Ryan had hoped his latest statement — a different version of what he has already promised — will give enough Democrats cover to vote for the budget deal. But it wasn't enough to assuage Pelosi who wants to protect the 700,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children.

A trio of House Democrats — Reps. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.) — are also whipping their colleagues to oppose the budget deal, according to multiple sources.

A group of about 10 members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including its chairman Cedric Richmond (D-La.), were seen in an intense debate about the bill on the first floor of the Capitol Thursday morning. And members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus were debating whether they should support the plan during their weekly lunch huddle later that day.

For a number of House Democrats, the budget caps deals means billions of dollars more in domestic spending, funds they desperately want.

"I cannot in good conscience go home and say to my [hospitals that serve low-income patients] that I didn't vote for this because of DACA," said Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), a member of the CBC.

"Or I can't go home and say to health centers that have already been handing out pink slips, 'I didn't vote for this and they gave me money for a permanent fix for your problem.' I can't go home and say to union people, 'Look, they're going to try to take care of your pension problem, but I didn't vote for it.'"

The massive package also includes $89 billion in disaster aid, surpassing the $81 billion allocation the House approved in December for regions hit by wildfires and last year’s trio of catastrophic hurricanes.

And as the Treasury Department reaches the upper limits of its borrowing authority this month, the measure would lift the debt ceiling until March 2019, giving lawmakers more than a year without the worry of default.

Burgess Everett, Matthew Nussbaum and Sarah Ferris contributed to this report.

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###### This article tagged under:

- Paul Ryan
- Budget
- Nancy Pelosi
- Treasury Department
- Government Shutdown
- Government Shutdown 2018
- House Freedom Caucus
- Dreamers

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