BUDGET/HOUSE OF REPS/POLITICS: “House Republicans on Tuesday [1-16-18] night appeared to coalesce around a short-term funding bill to avert a government shutdown Friday — even as conservatives threatened to oppose it and a bitter fight continued over the fate of more than 700,000 Dreamers.
Speaker Paul Ryan unveiled a plan at a House GOP Conference meeting to fund the government through Feb. 16, and numerous rank-and-file members quickly endorsed it despite their frustration with another short-term patch. To further sweeten the pot, the Wisconsin Republican’s bill also includes a delay of several Obamacare taxes and a six-year extension of a popular health care program for children.
That — combined with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) threats to withhold Democratic votes to help pass the measure — appeared to have won over key GOP skeptics…
House GOP leaders will whip the bill Wednesday before a possible Thursday vote. If the funding measure passes the House, senior Republican sources in both chambers expect the measure to clear the Senate… After the GOP Conference meeting, the House Freedom Caucus met and did not take a position on the stopgap bill. But Meadows expressed skepticism leadership’s plan would pass in its current form with just Republican votes.”
-Rachael Bade, Sarah Ferris, and Jennifer Scholtes, “House Republicans coalesce behind plan to avert shutdown,” Politico, Jan. 16, 2018 11:01pm