December 8, 2017, government funding deadline
 Issues |
- See also: 115th Congress on the budget, 2017-2018
On December 7, 2017, the House passed a two-week stopgap spending bill to keep the government open until December 22, 2017, by a vote of 235-193. Fourteen Democrats voted for the measure, and 18 Republicans voted against it. Shortly after, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 81-14. Six Republicans, seven Democrats, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voted against the legislation. President Donald Trump signed the bill on December 8, 2017. The government would have run out of funding at 12:01 a.m. on December 9, 2017, without the stopgap spending bill. Lawmakers used the extended deadline to negotiate a final budget deal.[1][2]
Background
On September 8, 2017, President Donald Trump signed a bill to suspend the debt ceiling and fund the government until December 8, 2017. The bill also included more than $15 billion for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma relief efforts. The bill was the result of a deal struck by Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).[3]
On September 6, 2017, by a vote of 419-3, the House passed a $7.85 billion Hurricane Harvey relief bill. After congressional leaders met with Trump, amendments were added to the bill to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government until December 8, 2017, proposals backed by Schumer and Pelosi. House Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) wanted a longer term for the debt limit increase and wanted to work on funding the government in a separate bill. According to Politico, Trump struck the deal with Democrats because he “wanted to clear the legislative decks to ensure tax reform remains the policy focus this fall.”[4]
On September 7, 2017, by a vote of 80-17, the Senate passed the amended bill. All 17 votes against the bill were cast by Republicans. The following day, by a vote of 316-90, the House passed the amended bill. All 90 votes against the bill were cast by Republicans. Most Republicans who opposed the bill wanted to debate spending cuts along with raising the debt limit.[4]
Congress initially faced deadlines of September 29 and September 30 to raise the debt limit and pass a funding bill to avoid a partial government shutdown. The bill proposed extending the deadline until December 8, 2017, to address these two issues.
December 5, 2017: House Republicans delay consideration of short-term spending bill
On December 5, 2017, the House Rules Committee was scheduled to meet to discuss a short-term bill to fund the government through December 22, 2017, but the committee delayed the meeting until the following day because the House Freedom Caucus disagreed with the timeframe for the bill. Members of the House Freedom Caucus said that they wanted the deadline in the bill to extend to December 30, 2017, "because they worry the Dec. 22 deadline would increase the possibility that lawmakers would accept a spending package with extraneous measures, such as immigration and ObamaCare, to end work and return home for the holidays," according to The Hill.[5]
November 28, 2017: Schumer and Pelosi skip meeting with Trump
On November 28, 2017, before a scheduled meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), President Donald Trump wrote in a tweet, "Meeting with 'Chuck and Nancy' today about keeping the government open and working. Problem is they want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE Taxes. I don’t see a deal!"[6]
In response, Schumer and Pelosi decided to skip the meeting. They said in a statement, “If the President, who already said earlier this year that ‘our country needs a good shutdown,’ isn’t interested in addressing the difficult year end agenda we’ll work with those Republicans who are, as we did in April.”[7]
After they skipped the meeting, Trump said that Schumer and Pelosi were “all talk” and “no action. ... Now it’s even worse. Now it’s not even talk. Now they’re not even showing up to the meeting." He also said that if the government shuts down, he "would absolutely blame the Democrats."[7]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Hill, "House passes bill to avoid shutdown," December 7, 2017
- ↑ PBS.org, "Trump signs 2-week spending bill to avoid government shutdown," December 8, 2017
- ↑ The Hill, "Senate approves Trump's debt deal with Democrats," September 7, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Politico, "House sends Harvey aid package to Trump with debt ceiling boost," September 8, 2017
- ↑ The Hill, "House GOP delays work on funding bill amid conservative demands," December 5, 2017
- ↑ Twitter, "Donald J. Trump," November 28, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Hill, "Chances for government shutdown rising," November 28, 2017
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