GOP/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Tensions between President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans are rising, as lawmakers are being blamed by the president, House colleagues and many voters for the party’s failure to pass a major legislative initiative…
Next month, the Republican-led Congress must pass a measure to keep the government funded beyond Sept. 30, when a current law expires, and raise the borrowing limit to guard against the risk of failing to pay its bills on time, including payments to Social Security beneficiaries, government employees, troops and U.S. debtholders.
Mr. Trump is complicating that work by threatening to reject any funding bill that doesn’t include $1.6 billion toward construction of a wall on the nation’s southern border, a move that likely would result in a partial government shutdown.
Some House Republicans say that the GOP-led Senate needs to scrap its procedural traditions, which require 60 votes to pass most legislation, and allow for bills to pass on a simple majority—even though the Senate wasn’t able to find a majority for its health plan”
-Siobhan Hughes and Kristina Peterson, “Pressure Mounts on Senate Republicans as Trump Rachets Up Criticism,” The Wall Street Journal online, Aug. 27, 2017 05:33pm