CNN
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Donald Trump’s second presidency will take a novel path this week as he turns to Congress to enshrine a part of his effort to rework the nation — after weeks of wielding huge and questionable government energy.
Home Republicans hope to vote on a bill to extend federal funding till the tip of September. In the event that they succeed, after dropping talks with Democrats on a bipartisan measure, they’ll set off a showdown within the Senate that would finish in a dangerous authorities shutdown.
Democrats will then need to resolve whether or not they’ll oppose the measure by mounting a filibuster. In the event that they block it, they may danger taking the blame for shutting down the federal government until they’ll persuade the general public it’s Trump’s fault. If they permit the measure to cross, they might once more seem like they lack the energy and objective to withstand Trump’s presidency.
The drama forward of Friday’s funding deadline might have a critical influence on the lives and well-being of hundreds of thousands of People. A shutdown might drive important authorities staff to go with out pay and see many extra furloughed. It will disrupt companies together with airport safety, border crossings and nationwide parks. It will deepen the turmoil sparked by Trump’s return to the Oval Workplace as his brinksmanship on tariffs rocks the financial system and Elon Musk’s indiscriminate shredding of the federal authorities causes chaos.
And Trump solely heightened this uncertainty when he declined to rule out the opportunity of a recession this yr in an interview that aired Sunday on Fox Information’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” Vowing to go ahead together with his commerce battle insurance policies, Trump dismissed a slide within the inventory markets, that are often one of his favorite measures of financial efficiency.
A vital take a look at of Speaker Johnson and Senate Democrats
The approaching congressional theater will first pose an early take a look at of Home Speaker Mike Johnson’s capability to enact Trump’s agenda with a minuscule Republican majority. Stopgap spending payments typically alienate conservative fiscal hawks and members of the far-right Freedom Caucus. However Trump is demanding unity from his facet and is billing this measure — which freezes top-line spending however raises funding for his priorities, together with protection and border safety — as a down fee on deep authorities cuts to come back.
Republican leaders are telling members that passing the stopgap funding measure, often called a seamless decision, would give them extra time to codify Musk’s authorities cuts in a future invoice and keep away from a GOP cut up that would hamper Trump’s bold agenda, together with his push for enormous tax cuts.
Nonetheless, the failure to provide detailed spending plans for particular person authorities departments and the choice to push important choices down the street raises doubts concerning the Home majority’s capability to operate. The invoice doesn’t, for example, take care of the necessity to elevate the federal government’s borrowing restrict — one other looming disaster that would trigger financial contagion inside weeks with out immediate motion. It additionally fails to codify Musk’s swing at federal authorities jobs and applications into legislation — maybe as a result of they’re increasingly divisive and will threaten GOP unity.
Trump is betting that help for Musk’s mission amongst MAGA base voters will persuade GOP lawmakers who’re often skeptical of such measures to again this non permanent repair. “All Republicans ought to vote (Please!) YES subsequent week,” he wrote Saturday on Reality Social, including, “NO DISSENT.”
His technique could also be working. Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, a scourge of constant resolutions, informed Steve Bannon’s podcast final week he’d again “conserving the lights on” in authorities with a stopgap invoice to create time for Musk and his Division of Authorities Effectivity to maintain wielding the spending ax. And Rep. Andy Harris, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, stated he totally supported the measure. “Congress should preserve the federal government open in order that DOGE can proceed to get rid of waste, fraud and abuse in our authorities. This persevering with decision is critical to advance President Trump’s agenda,” the Maryland Republican wrote on X.
Home Democrats are resolved to oppose the invoice in one of the important early moments of the brand new Congress. Rosa DeLauro, the highest Democrat on the Home Appropriations Committee, stated in an announcement that the plan is a “energy seize for the White Home and additional permits unchecked billionaire Elon Musk and President Trump to steal from the American folks.” The Connecticut lawmaker argued that by giving up on passing full-year spending payments, Republicans had handed their energy to “an unelected billionaire.”
The Tesla chief has now pledged to seek the advice of with Republicans in Congress on his deep cuts to authorities jobs and spending, after lawmakers began to receive backlash from a few of their constituents. Johnson hopes to codify the cuts in new measures late within the yr — a a lot heavier carry than the present short-term patch.
Democrats are nonetheless struggling for an efficient counter to Trump’s government energy blitzkrieg in his first six weeks in workplace. And their uncoordinated and futile protests throughout the president’s address to Congress final week underscored the dearth of inner coherence within the get together on the best way forward.
If the stopgap spending invoice reaches the Senate, get together leaders will face a dilemma. For now, they’re calling for a resumption of bipartisan negotiations on full-year funds payments shelved by Johnson and Trump, in what appears extra like a public relations train than a critical political technique.
A failure to dam the measure — which the get together has the facility to do, given the 60-vote filibuster threshold within the Senate — might additional demoralize supporters and underscore the impotence of Democrats in Republican-dominated Washington.
But when Democrats do block the invoice and are instrumental in shutting down the federal government and important companies, they danger hurting their very own constituents and distracting from the political warmth that’s starting to construct on Trump and Musk. Democrats need to present that the GOP can’t govern — and a few lawmakers imagine they shouldn’t get in the best way of what they see as Trump’s chaos and malfeasance. Shutting the federal government to put it aside additionally looks as if a logical stretch. And there’s political peril, too, since many People help the president’s aspirations to downsize the federal machine — even when some doubt his strategies.
Sen. Andy Kim informed CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” on Sunday that Johnson’s failure to debate a spending invoice with Democrats confirmed a failure of Republican management. Kim known as for a 30-day stopgap invoice to permit talks to proceed. The New Jersey Democrat added of Johnson: “He’s actually exhibiting simply how dangerous he’s at governing proper now. … He’s the one which’s strolling away from this bipartisan discuss proper now.”
However Kim exemplified the Democrats’ tough place when he was requested whether or not he’ll oppose the stopgap invoice if it reaches the Senate. “Nicely, it’s not easy but, as a result of we don’t know what the Home goes to do,” he stated.
Some Democrats imagine the short-term invoice is essentially irrelevant, since Trump, by Musk, has been making unilateral decisions to cut authorities applications, employees and companies that Congress has already funded in a doubtlessly unconstitutional course of that faces a number of court docket challenges.
“Look, the president has been deciding methods to spend the cash any manner he desires even when we now have a funds that each Democrats and Republicans voted on,” Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan stated on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “That’s a constitutional situation, proper? Everybody is aware of Congress has the facility of the purse. So, till I see some assurances that no matter we cross subsequent week goes to make sure that the cash is spent the best way Congress intends, I’m going to withhold my vote till I see that.”
Sen. Patty Murray, the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, blasted the persevering with decision as a “slush fund” designed to present Musk and Trump extra energy over vital spending investments in states and districts that help college students, veterans, households and sufferers. The Washington state Democrat added: “As a substitute of turning the keys over to the Trump administration with this invoice, Congress ought to instantly cross a short-term CR to forestall a shutdown and end work on bipartisan funding payments that spend money on households, preserve America protected, and guarantee our constituents have a say in how federal funding is spent.”
But when Johnson and Trump get their manner within the Home, that path can be closed, and Senate Democrats will confront an unpalatable alternative they don’t but appear keen to face.
