With no votes scheduled in either chamber of Congress for the rest of this week and the President more than once reiterating his push for a border wall, it seems unlikely that anything will occur on the shutdown front until the first part of January at the earliest. House Democrats have publicly stated that they plan to bring up a bill that would reopen the government when they assume control on January 3. Whether that has any impact on negotiations remains to be seen.
Category: Administration
Shutdown Hits 5 Days
The partial government shutdown is now in its fifth day. With the Senate out until Thursday and the two sides still far apart in their negotiations, it is very possible that the shutdown could last until after New Year’s Day. Democrats are scheduled to take over the control of the House on January 3.
How Long Will It Last?
With President Trump renewing his vow to shut down the government over wall funding, the question now, at least in the short term, seems to be, “How long will it last?”
Earlier this week, after the Senate passed a continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the government through February 8, it appeared that the President was backing away from his previous public proclamations that he welcomed a shutdown. Since then, he had another change of heart, forcing the House, which is controlled by Republicans until January 3, to take up and pass a new CR that included $5 billion for a wall along the border.
With the clock counting down towards a shutdown at midnight Saturday morning ET, various parties are now in negotiations over how to proceed. Congressional Democrats have reiterated that they have no interest in the $5 billion for the wall.
Regardless the result of the negotiations between two parties, the two chambers, and the different branches of government, the House is out of session until Noon ET tomorrow. This means that we will in likelihood be dealing with at least a short-term partial shutdown of the government. How long will it last? Stay tuned.
White House Backs Down on Shutdown Threat
It appears that the White House is backing away from President’s Trump threat to shut down parts of the government over funding for a Southern border wall. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said earlier today that there are other ways to get $5 billion for the wall.
Although the White House has pulled back from shutdown threat, it remains to be seen how the Friday shutdown deadline will be dealt with, as Congressional Republicans, Democrats, and the Administration must all agree on a plan before then.
Results…and Still Counting
There are still many races that are still too close to call this morning, which was expected. It happened in 2012, 2014 and 2016. It’s happened twice already this year.
That said, many races have been called. The Democrats have 220 seats, exactly two more seats than needed for a majority and a gain of 27 seats, while Republicans have 193. There are currently just over 30 House seats yet to be called; if the current leader in all of them ends up winning, the House will be 227 Democrats, 208 Republicans. House Democrats gained in states like New York, California, Kansas, Iowa, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Oklahoma.
The Republican majority in the Senate got stronger with wins in Indiana, Florida, and Missouri. In the Senate there are still two races outstanding in Montana and Arizona, while Mississippi is going to have a runoff. Republicans lead in both those races; if the current leader ends up winning, the Senate will have 46 Democrats, 54 Republicans. Democrats were always looking at a challenging year as they were defending more seats and many in conservative states.
Democrats made significant pickups across the nation at the Governor’s office gaining seats in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Nevada, Kansas, and Maine. If they current leader ends up winning, there will be 23 Democratic and 27 Republican governors.
In some contentious races, like in Georgia and Mississippi, there is a possibility that no candidate will receive a majority of votes, kicking in special rules to decide the election at a later date. Although currently Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp is running just barely above the total needed for a recount. Mississippi looks likely to head to a runoff. Florida has also triggered an automatic recount between Senate candidates Sen. Ben Nelson (D) and Gov. Rick Scott (R).
In Washington state, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-WA-05) defeated challenger Lisa Brown in a hotly contested race. Technically, two races are still outstanding this morning, but Rep. Jaime Herrera Beulter (R-WA-03) is expected to be re-elected and Dr. Kim Schier (D) is expected to be declared the winner over Dino Rossi to represent WA-08 in an open contest. Otherwise, the current Washington delegation was handily elected.