BUDGET/DEMS/GOP: “A growing number of Democrats and Republicans on Thursday [1-18-18] resisted an emerging short-term spending bill that would avoid a partial government shutdown this weekend, prompting GOP leaders to pressure recalcitrant lawmakers to avoid a spectacle while Democrats worked to hammer out their own strategy in the standoff.
The House is expected to vote late Thursday on a spending bill that would keep the government funded through Feb. 16. Though Republicans control more than enough votes to pass the bill without Democratic support, House GOP leaders on Thursday were still trying to wrangle support out of the party’s conference.
Meanwhile, in the Senate, where a spending bill faces perhaps an even larger hurdle, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell encouraged Republican lawmakers in a private email Thursday to stick together and vote for the spending bill, a Senate GOP aide said. The Kentucky Republican repeated that message in a closed-door lunch, lawmakers said.
Congressional leaders, unable to resolve differences over a diverse array of policy fights that are tied to spending, have already passed three interim funding bills this fiscal year, including two in December. Now, some members of both parties are growing weary of such short-term bills, and the fight is laying bare pressure points on such touchy subjects as immigration and children’s health.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) projected confidence Thursday morning that the House would be able to pass the stopgap bill, but he didn’t explicitly say he had sufficient GOP support. The bill needs 216 votes to pass, assuming all lawmakers are present and voting. There are 238 Republicans and 193 Democrats in the House.”
-Natalie Andrews and Kristina Peterson, “Stopgap Budget Bill Meets Resistance as Shutdown Looms,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 18, 2018 02:51pm