BUDGET/POLITICAL FIGURES/POLITICS: “Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday [1-17-18] he won’t vote for a short-term spending bill — also known as a continuing resolution or CR — that Republicans are attempting to pass by Friday night to avoid a government shutdown.
The South Carolina Republican continued to push for the bipartisan proposal that he and five other senators pitched to the President last week — which addresses the expiring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — though that plan was rejected… Graham’s announcement makes it more difficult for Republicans to pass the short-term spending bill in the Senate. With 51 votes in the chamber, the GOP already faced an uphill battle of getting to the magic number of 60 votes to advance the bill, meaning they would need help from Democrats even if all 51 Republicans were to support the bill.
House Republicans introduced a plan Tuesday night that would fund the government until February 16, but it doesn’t include a solution ahead of the DACA deadline on March 5, nor does it include a full year budget for the military.
Graham said there’s enough will to solve both problems now, arguing there’s no need to kick the can down the road…
Emerging from lunch with the Republican caucus, Graham said he told his colleagues he won’t be voting for the CR.
White House chief of staff John Kelly criticized the deal that Graham and the rest of the “Gang of Six” came up with, telling reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning that it wasn’t bipartisan enough and didn’t have sufficient input from the House and Senate.”
-Ashley Killough and Sunlen Serfaty, “Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham: ‘I’m not going to vote’ for funding bill,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, Jan. 17, 2018 03:10pm