BUDGET/HOUSE OF REPS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “House Republicans are considering voting next week on a stopgap spending bill that would keep the government funded through late March, lawmakers and aides said Thursday [2-1-18].
The government’s current funding expires at 12:01 a.m. Feb. 9, and lawmakers have said they will need to pass another short-term spending bill to keep it running. Congress ended a three-day partial government shutdown last week with an agreement to keep it operating though Feb. 8 but have yet to reach a longer-term budget deal…
Lawmakers and aides widely expect Congress to keep the government funded without the showdown that led to a partial shuttering last month…
Many lawmakers are frustrated by the frequent passing of short-term spending bills, which Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told Republicans at the retreat Thursday morning harms the military. The last two-year budget deal ran out at the end of September. Congress has kept the government running with short-term spending bills since then.
Conservative Republicans, who often balk at passing short-term bills, are threatening to oppose it next week.”
-Kristina Peterson, “House Republicans Say New Stopgap Spending Measure Is Needed,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 1, 2018 06:09pm