Government On Verge Of Shutdown As Democrats Refuse To Support Stopgap Plan
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Dec 7, 2017
In an announcement that brings the federal government to the verge of a weekend shutdown, Nancy Pelosi said Democrats won’t support a Republican bill for a two-week funding extension because almost none of their demands have been met.
Meanwhile, Speaker Paul Ryan says he feels confident about the vote count for the Republican’s short-term extension that would kick in after a continuing resolution approved in September to fund the government through midnight, Friday expires.
According to Bloomberg, the bill is a “waste of time” that doesn’t include funding for combating the opioid crisis, among other priorities like enshrining DACA provisions into law, something Pelosi has said must happen before the end of the year.
Pelosi added that she hopes she and Chuck Schumer, her counterpart in the Senate, can work out a deal suitable to both parties when they meet with President Donald Trump later today.
The House Rules committee last night approved a rule change to allow Republican leaders to bring the bill to a vote Thursday.
The decision on a stopgap bill with a Dec. 22 end-date came after Ryan and his leadership team held discussions on overall budget strategy with the leaders of the restive House Freedom Caucus. A formal check of how members would vote came back showing widespread support, said Representative Dennis Ross, a member of the vote-whipping team.
As we pointed out yesterday, the continuing resolution that’s been funding the government for the last two months, and yet many battles over a host of intractable issues are still being fought. At this point, passing something by midnight Friday – when the continuing resolution expires -is looking increasingly problematic.
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