Posted on 01/30/2026 3:15:05 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
The transcript discusses an impending partial U.S. government shutdown at midnight, with 78% of federal funding set to expire.
A deal between the White House and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer would separate DHS funding from a larger package of six funding bills. The DHS portion would receive a two-week stopgap while ICE reforms are negotiated, allowing the other five bills to pass with bipartisan support.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is holding up the deal by placing a hold on the legislation. He demands a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize sanctuary cities before lifting the hold. He spoke on the Senate floor stating he will not lift it without that assurance.
The Senate requires unanimous consent to advance the bill, so Graham's objection blocks progress.
Even if the Senate reaches agreement today, the House is not in session this week. Speaker Johnson indicated the House could not reconvene until Monday at the earliest, meaning any Senate changes would require House action, likely leading to at least a weekend shutdown.
Commentators note divisions in Congress, with some describing Graham's stance as a temper tantrum or obsession, while others call Democratic demands political theater to appease their base or note that the shutdown would affect agencies like TSA and FEMA (impacting disaster response in places like Tennessee and Mississippi) rather than ICE, which is already funded through 2029.
President Trump indicated willingness to work with Democrats and Schumer.
Various opinions are expressed: the shutdown would be Democrat-owned if the six-bill package matches House-passed levels and keeps the government open; short shutdowns feel normalized; lawmakers face no personal salary penalties; citizens and federal employees bear the impact; and past shutdowns (like the longest one over health care) yielded no lasting changes.
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
ICE reforms? No more kid gloves?
I believe he reversed himself.
Scary thought that Graham may be the kind of crazy we need.
“He demands a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize sanctuary cities before lifting the hold. He spoke on the Senate floor stating he will not lift it without that assurance.”
So he gets his vote and it fails anyway? Actually I am with him on this one. Get all of them on the record. I don’t care if the govt shuts down a while in the meantime.
NO ICE REFORMS!! NONE. Why do the Democrats get to run the government even when Republicans win? Because they are cowards stabbing the Americans in the back every time we gave them control of the government. Piss poor excuse for human beings.
He's gone to that trough once too often, and isn't fooling anybody. He thinks he's slick.
That's not an unreasonable ask.
It all depends on how you define a “sanctuary city”, but the reality is that most definitions run afoul of the 10th Amendment and wouldn’t be enforceable anyway.
“Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer“?
“ Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer”
That’s what Fox thinks. Well, why wouldn’t they?
Good catch!
It’s rather accurate though, isn’t it?
The article is dated "2026.02.30", so maybe he'll be Majority Leader by February 30...
/sarc
LOL! He’s actually proposing something good. Hard to believe.
Lindsey is right for a change. The President is too eager to cut a bad deal, again.
He was great during Kavanaugh hearings.
Not usually on the side of Graham but I say let them shut it down.
Amazing good on Linda..
He did. This is old news.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.