BUDGET/GOP/HOUSE OF REPS: “House Republicans are short of the votes they need to avoid a government shutdown, but Speaker Paul Ryan and GOP leaders remain confident they will pass a stopgap funding measure when it comes to the floor on Thursday [1-18-18].
President Donald Trump is personally leaning on GOP lawmakers to fall into line, especially hard-line conservatives who are opposed to virtually anything Ryan and his leadership team propose.
Across the Capitol, Senate Democrats are upset about the House potentially jamming them with a last-minute bill that would do nothing more than avert the worst-case scenario. They’re still smarting over Trump seemingly backing away last week from a bipartisan deal to protect 700,000 Dreamers from deportation.
Senate Democrats have refused to say whether they would block the funding measure, though Republicans believe Democrats won’t risk a shutdown with control of the chamber in play this fall.
With government funding set to run out on Friday — and the two sides far apart on an immigration deal — Ryan and senior House Republicans are pushing legislation to keep the government funded until Feb. 16. In a bid to pick up votes from both parties, the measure would also fund a popular children’s health program for six more years and delay the implementation of several Obamacare taxes.”
-John Bresnahan, Sarah Ferris, and Heather Caygle, “Republicans lack votes to prevent a shutdown,” Politico, Jan. 17, 2018 06:17pm