House Republicans have struck a deal on short-term funding but the Senate is likely to reject it and the government faces the prospect of a partial shutdown.
In a bid to avert a partial shutdown of the federal government, House Republicans have reached a deal on a short-term funding package that contains some of President Donald Trump’s requested border security funding. The package would provide $5.7 billion for border barriers, as well as money for other government department needs.
However, the deal is unlikely to pass in the Senate. Democrats have long said they will not accept border wall funding and the bill is dead on arrival in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already suggested the bill is “unacceptable.”
This means that in the coming weeks the government could see a partial shutdown with some government services affected. This presents a big political risk for the White House as any shutdown could be seen as a failure of the Trump administration to get a deal done and could hurt the President’s approval ratings.
It also risks further hampering the already delayed spending bills. The House and Senate have been at odds all year over a package of spending bills that should have been passed last year. This makes it more likely that Congress will bypass these bills and instead opt for another short-term deal as the political obstacles seem too great for the spending bills to pass.
If the House, Senate, and White House can’t resolve their differences over the short-term deal, the government could see its first partial shutdown since January 2018. But there are still possibilities when it comes to resolving the issue and averting the shutdown.
The Senate may ultimately pass the House bill or alternatively the House and Senate can strike a new deal that does not contain the border wall funding. It is also possible for Trump to agree to delay the border wall funding and sign off on a longer-term funding bill that would buy Congress more time to negotiate a budget bill.
No matter what happens, the stalemate between the House and the Senate needs to be broken soon if the government is to avoid a shutdown.