BUDGET/CRISIS/NATIONAL DEBT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The hurricane relief and debt deal signed by President Donald Trump last Friday [9-8-17] suspends the government’s borrowing limit through Dec. 8, but the real deadline will likely be next spring, according to analysts and congressional aides, adding a new wrinkle to upcoming negotiations.
The new 2018 deadline could align with discussions on Capitol Hill over how to handle Mr. Trump’s decision last week to end a program shielding young undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. as children. The president gave Congress six months before the program ends to try to write legislation addressing the so-called Dreamers, creating a deadline of March 5.
The shift also means that Republicans will have to cast a vote on raising the debt limit in an election year, an outcome GOP leaders had hoped to avoid given the party’s longstanding opposition to rising government debt.
The spring debt limit deadline is the product of negotiations between Republicans and Democrats following the deal Mr. Trump struck last Wednesday with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) to combine aid for victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma with a three-month suspension of the debt limit. Mr. Trump also agreed to include a three-month extension of government funding, which will now expire on Dec. 8.”
-Kristina Peterson, Kate Davidson, and Siobhan Hughes, “New Debt Limit Deadline Could Align With DACA Talks, Midterm Elections,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 12, 2017 07:10pm