What’s up now with the wall?
The House has voted to approve 5 billion dollars for the border wall, but there’s basically no chance it will pass in the Senate.
When that happens, and another funding bill is passed that doesn’t include the wall money, will Trump “shut down” the government?:
But in fact it’s Senate Democrats shutting down the government in media spin. Shutting the government is not actually shutting the government, but there can be bad optics for the party that gets blamed, which inevitably is Republicans.
$5 billion in the world of federal spending is small. It’s not about $5 billion. It’s about Democrats wanting to break Trump.
But isn’t everything about breaking Trump?
However, former Congressman Jason Chaffetz has a thought on how to resolve the impasse—redirection:
Each year the government spends hundreds of billions of dollars on things that are not specifically authorized by Congress. Both Democrats and Republicans have been complicit in this practice.
The Democrats may feign exasperation with the president potentially spending “unauthorized” money on the wall, but they have enthusiastically participated in the budgetary games that will make it possible.
…[T]he budget categories under which programs are authorized and funds are appropriated are very broad, and since Congress doesn’t pass specific language about every last dollar’s use, discretionary funds are inevitably used for things that Congress never specifically funds.
This is how the executive branch often gets the money it needs to do things that Congress won’t formally authorize. It finds money that has been either broadly appropriated or appropriated to a program that is expired and redirects it to a related program or purpose of its choosing.
I see no reason why that cannot happen. If it doesn’t happen, it would mean that the powers that be didn’t want it to happen.
Nick Mulvaney, the new Chief of Staff, is a budget whiz. He will find the money if Congress won’t vote to appropriate it. IMO, Trump is enjoying paying hardball with Shumer and Pelosi. He knows he will get the money, but wants to highlight the anti-Trump forces unwillingness to appropriate what is basically pocket change for national security. Just called my Senators and Rep urging them to approve the $5 billion. Can’t hurt. Took me all of two minutes.
My favorite scene in my favorite political movie, “Dave,” is when Dave (Kevin Kline) calls his CPA, Charles Grodin, to the White House, to go over the budget, line-by-line, to find money for a program Dave wants to fund. Which they do. Oh, that that could happen in real life!
Now a WaPoo reporter is trying to get GoFundMe to block the Wall fund raising, which is now over $11 million.
He tried an argument about private citizens paying for federal projects but a rich guy donated $7 million for the Washington Monument restoration. That was when Obama was in office so it’s different.
The House has voted to approve 5 billion dollars for the border wall, but there’s basically no chance it will pass in the Senate.
Wait a moment, don’t we have a majority in the Senate? Jeff Flake’s departure from public life cannot come too soon.
Art Deco:
The cloture problem and the 60-vote rule is what stands in its way. It only has been removed for judicial appointments.
The cloture problem and the 60-vote rule is what stands in its way. It only has been removed for judicial appointments.
What, the witless parliamentary rules McConnell has insisted be left in place because reasons? Not accepting that excuse either.
This will be an interesting showdown. The “shutdown” will affect no one but government employees who all vote Democrat. Obama tried to inflict pain by blocking roads to private businesses near national parks and erecting fences around open air national monuments. Who paid to rent and erect those temporary fences ?
…Hush. ;>)
I was going to ask the same question as Art Deco, but I see that Neo answered it. The article “Filibuster in the United States Senate” on Wikipedia has a fairly thorough explanation of the whole business, but it makes my head hurt. It starts, “Although not explicitly mandated, the Constitution and its framers clearly envisioned that simple majority voting would be used to conduct business.” <> Then there’s this subhead: “Accidental creation and early use of the filibuster.” Duh.
“If it doesn’t happen, it would mean that the powers that be didn’t want it to happen.”
Nice to see we are setting up an actual falsifiable problem in the social sciences.
One which we all can see the answer to from here.
It’s why we have President Trump, and not President Rubio or Bush-3.
“Wait a moment, don’t we have a majority in the Senate?” Art Deco
Short answer; no, we do not. We have a majority of RINOs pretending to be conservative. Surely you’re not that naive? Or did you have a “brain freeze”? 😉
When the new Congress takes office, the new House majority will pass a CR with no wall funding. Schumer knows this and thinks Trump will cave. Trump knows the history of GHW Bush’s “No New Taxes” and will not. The end game will be about 10,000 Democrats in DC with no paycheck.
Works for me.