BUDGET/POLITICS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump signed a two-year budget deal Friday [2-9-18] morning, along with a stopgap spending bill to end a brief government shutdown. The measure narrowly passed in the House hours earlier, in a 240-186 vote, overcoming opposition from both conservative Republicans opposed to boosting federal spending and Democrats worried its passage would diminish their leverage in the coming debate over immigration.
After months of funding the government through short-term patches, a coalition of centrist House Republicans and Democrats combined to end the year’s second government shutdown and resolve a fiscal fight that had spilled over from 2017. The Senate had passed the spending package hours earlier in a 71-28 vote. The president signed the bill about 8:30 a.m…
The budget deal’s passage effectively ends one of the most high-stakes fights in Washington, which devolved last month into a three-day partial government shutdown and a second, shorter one Friday. By ensuring stable government funding, the budget agreement removes the threat of a shutdown from Democrats’ arsenal, disappointing those who had wanted the minority party to wield it in the coming fight over immigration.”
-Kristina Peterson and Natalie Andrews, “Trump Signs Budget Deal, Stopgap Spending Bill to End Shutdown,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 9, 2018 09:37am