President Trump Prepares for Government Shutdown


Donald Trump’s administration is quietly preparing for a government shutdown, according to reports. Snags over issues such as border wall funding seem to be putting a necessary spending bill’s future in question.

With the Senate reconvening on Monday and the House of Representatives on Tuesday after a two-week recess, lawmakers will have only four days to pass a spending package to keep the government open beyond April 28, when funding expires for numerous federal programs. “I think we want to keep the government open,” Trump said on Thursday, adding he thinks Congress can pass the funding legislation and perhaps also a revamped healthcare bill.

Trump’s wish may be problematic: as a reminder, the government will shut down midnight on April 28 if Congress cannot agree on a spending bill. As reported over the past week, the measure hit various snags over Trump’s demands to include funding for Trump’s border wall and a debate over money for an ObamaCare insurer subsidy program, both programs which virtually assure the spending bill will not pass.

As a result, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has begun to coordinate with government agencies to plan for a possible shutdown. “While we do not expect a lapse, prudence and common sense require routine assessments will be made,” OMB Director Mick Mulvaney said in a statement.

As Compass Point analyst Isaac Boltansky, notes, “wall funding is just one of many policy potholes that could disrupt negotiations, including ACA cost-sharing subsidies, coal miner benefits, sanctuary cities.”

To be sure, Congress can avoid a full-blown shutdown if it passes a short-term spending measure to keep the government open while negotiations over a broader funding deal continue, but even that process has been put into question.

“I think we’re in good shape,” President Trump said when asked about the possibility of a shutdown. “We remain confident we’re not going to have a shutdown,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at a separate off-camera briefing, calling the preparation “required steps” for the federal agencies and departments.

Some analysts disagree with the optimistic assessment.

According to Cowen’s Chris Kruger “shutdown theatrics reach fever pitch next week, with one-week punt most likely outcome” however he focuses on the “White House’s misconception they have any leverage with Democrats when it’s the opposite, as Congressional Democrats have less than zero incentive to compromise with Trump and Trump needs them to keep govt from shutting down.”

Few Congressional Democrats seem willing to budge. After they preferred the nuclear option over bipartisan support for Trump’s qualified Supreme Court nominee, it seems they’re willing to risk it all in order to stand up to Trump. They may be trying to appeal to their liberal base, but they’re risking the structure and functionality of government in the process.

Source: Zero Hedge

 



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