By Connor Hamill, political columnist
April 28, 2017: A day which could live in infamy. That is the day the nation’s current spending bill is set to expire. Without a new spending bill, the federal government will shut down, closing national parks and federal museums, among other institutions. But with only four legislative days left before the deadline, Congress is certainly playing with fire.
But will there be another government shutdown? Maybe, depending on how willing the Republicans are to betray Trump.
The biggest problem facing the Republican Party is including enough provisions from President Donald J. Trump’s proposed budget to satisfy him, while still making the bill moderate enough to attract support from Democrats. While neither party wants to see a government shutdown, the Republicans are definitely stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Trump has proposed many items in his budget, but it boils down to an increase in defense spending accompanied by slashes to domestic funding. This has put many Democrats, and even some Republicans, at odds with Trump’s agenda.
Democrats will almost certainly never support any attempts to use taxpayer money to construct a border wall. And cutting funding to many domestic programs, such as the McGovern-Dole international food program that feeds vulnerable schoolchildren abroad, is almost certainly not going to fly, either.
A few Republicans have similar reservations. Trump’s proposed budget cuts $1.8 billion from the National Institutes of Health, and $2.8 billion from the State Department. According to the New York Times, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said, “I’m not going to support a big cut to the [National Institutes of Health]. I’m not going to support big cuts to the State Department.”
Clearly, passing an acceptable spending bill will require a lot of negotiating, but Republicans will be under a lot of pressure to secure a win. After Trump’s many political gaffes, and the Republican’s failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Republicans will be desperate to bring home a victory. Unfortunately for them, Democrats finally have power in this matter.
Democrats cannot yield on matters such as the border wall and budget cuts, and they have the power to shut down the government and humiliate the Republicans yet again. On the other hand, Republicans will probably be fighting for the most radical bill they can in order to give Trump some political capital.
An unstoppable force will meet an immovable object, creating a terrifyingly interesting spectacle for us all to look forward to in the coming weeks in Congress.
