The US government has until midnight tonight to avert a second government shutdown in less than three months.
A deadlock was reached after Senate Democrats put the brakes on a bill to continue funding for the Department of Homeland Security following the death of Renee Good at the hands of ICE and Alex Pretti, who was shot by Border Patrol agents.
The US government has already shut down twice under Trump presidencies, once in 2018 and again last year. They occur if funding bills don't get enough votes to pass, resulting in a deadlock.
An American government shutdown is a big deal for the nation, as it means that all non-essential functions of government will be frozen and workers will be put on furlough or laid off because the federal agencies need Congress to supply them with money.
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However, when both of the political parties can’t agree on funding the same things, there becomes a problem.
To recap last year’s event: the Democrats wanted to stop Medicaid cuts and to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits.
The Republicans didn't get on board with that idea and instead wanted a 'clean' funding bill without those additives.
So, everything was stopped until they came to an understanding.
What has happened this time around?
This week, an agreement was announced between the Democrats and the White House on Thursday evening that the Trump administration would sign off on the final decision on how to fund the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks and also approve five other spending bills in advance.
Nevertheless, some sort of shutdown is almost guaranteed, even if the bill passes the Senate today.
That's because the bill also needs to pass through the House of Representatives, who aren't in session now until Monday, before the bill is signed into law by Trump.
This would mean a shutdown from midnight on Friday over the weekend, but any lapses in funding should only cause minimal disruptions.
But obviously, the faster things are sorted, the faster the agencies will be funded.
Funding for the Pentagon and State Department, and for things like the Health & Human Services and Education, all look to be approved in the bill.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson previously said, per Yahoo!, ‘we'll get everybody back as soon as we can’ for a vote before it’ll need to go to Trump for approval and his signature.
The Thursday agreement aims to fund 96 percent of the federal government until September 2026, allowing the Senate to pass the outstanding bills before then tackling how to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The bill would fund the DHS for two weeks while talks continue about a plan.
The DHS encapsulates things like the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
What concerns have been raised about the second US government shutdown?
Even if Thursday's deal passes through both Houses, it's only a stopgap, with the issue of DHS funding simply kicked down the road,
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday that the ‘Democrats are ready to pass five bipartisan funding bills in the Senate', but the DHS ‘still needs a lot of work.’
What they want prior to the DHS funding being approved is a different process for warrants during immigration operations and for ICE agents to no longer be able to wear masks shielding their identities.
They also want ICE agents to wear bodycams and to follow a code of conduct.
Sen. Lindsey Graham placed a hold on the government funding package last night when he said ‘we’re not voting tonight.’
Why was voting pushed back?
Per The Hill, the issue is that the new deal would repeal a law which allows senators to sue if their phone records were seized without prior notification as part of a probe into alleged attempts to subvert the results of the 2020 election.
As of right now, they can sue for $500,000 if their records were subpoenaed or obtained without prior notification.
However, Democrats want to renegotiate the law after Alex Pretti was shot and killed by ICE in Minneapolis, which led to Graham - a senator who was one of ten whose records were taken by Smith - exploding and refusing the Senate vote for federal funding.
“What senator wouldn’t want notification that they’re looking at your phone?” he said.
“I fixed the problem that people had. I’m not going to ignore what happened. If you were abused, you think you were abused, your phone records were illegally seized — you should have your day in court
"Every senator should want to make sure this never happens again.”
He also wasn’t happy about the lack of a full-year Homeland Security fund, stating that cops in the US are ‘being demonized’ and ‘can’t sleep at night’.
As for what Trump thinks of the issue, he appears to want them to come to an agreement as soon as possible.
“I am working hard with Congress to ensure that we are able to fully fund the Government, without delay,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday evening. “Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to get the vast majority of the Government funded until September, while at the same time providing an extension to the Department of Homeland Security.”
He added they ‘very much needed [a] Bipartisan ‘YES’ Vote.’
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News
Britt Jones