House Democrats ready strategy to reopen government, deny Trump wall money

Washington Post ^ | 12/31/2018 | By Erica Werner and Seung Min Kim

[SeekAndFind]

Democrats have settled on a strategy for attempting to reopen the government when they take control of the House on Thursday, aimed at ending the partial shutdown quickly — but denying President Trump the new money he wants for a border wall.

Democrats plan to pass a stopgap spending bill to fund the Homeland Security Department through Feb. 8. The bill would extend the existing $1.3 billion spending level on border fencing and other security measures, far short of the $5 billion Trump has sought to build new walls along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The GOP-controlled Senate passed a similar stopgap measure earlier this month, but Trump subsequently rejected it. It’s unclear how the Senate would respond if presented with the plan again.

Under Democrats’ plan, the House would also pass a package of six other spending bills to fund an array of federal agencies that have been shuttered since Dec. 22, including the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce and Justice Departments. Hundreds of thousands of workers at those agencies and others are home on furlough, facing the possibility of missing paychecks depending on how long the shutdown lasts.

Those six spending bills would be passed through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, at levels already embraced on a bipartisan basis in the Senate — an approach aimed at pressuring the Senate to go along.

The bills to reopen government will be among the first votes cast by Democrats when they take control of the House and open the 116th Congress. The legislation was expected to be made public later Monday. Details were confirmed by two House Democratic aides speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement.

[datricker]

The Democrats need government to advance their agenda. They will cave when the shutdown starts hurting them.

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We haven’t missed it. And what’s the political upside for Trump giving in? There’s none and how to keep the government open is now the Rats’ problem.

You sir are on a roll - keep it up - great observations

[fwdude]

I kinda like the shutdown.

I haven't noticed, so I can't like it.

[Liz]

(HAT TIP MCGRUFF)

In 2006, Democrats were saying ‘build that fence!’

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2017/01/26/when-wall-was-fence-and-democrats-embraced/QE7ieCBXjXVxO63pLMTe9O/story.html

As a US senator, progressive Democrat Obama offered praise for border control legislation (the basis for one of Donald Trump’s first acts as president). OBAMA: “The bill before us will certainly do some good,” Obama said on the Senate floor in October 2006. He praised the legislation, saying it would provide “better fences and better security along our borders” a