#2018 shutdown

[dragoni]

Replying to @realDonaldTrump

EXTORTION. 

EXTORTION is a FELONY. EXTORTION is the crime that YOU are committing by holding the government HOSTAGE until Congress meets your DEMANDS.

EXTORTION is just another thing for which you'll be indicted.

#TrumpExtortion #TrumpShutdown #MuellerIsComingForYou

— Rich Perrin‏ @RichPerrin - Dec 25, 2018

Not to mention the threat to National Security and the economy #Individual1

[arlingtonpark]

T plus 1:09 since shutdown.

The vending machine in the press corps break room is empty, Congressional staffers are working without pay, National Parks all over the country are closed, and I still can’t get a goddamn job. 

We now know what happened at the Trump-Schumer meeting yesterday. Talking over cheeseburgers for lunch, Schumer offered the framework for a deal that went so far as to give Trump funding for his insipid border wall in return for a DACA deal. 

Trump was apparently open to this, but then the same anti-DACA Republicans who convinced him to go back on the Graham-Durbin DACA deal earlier (that’s when the “shithole countries” remark was made) intervened again, and again they convinced him to turn down the offer. One of Trump’s complaints was that Schumer’s deal, which again, provides funding for the border wall, was too liberal. 

Meanwhile, in the Senate, Lindsey Graham worked to hammer out a compromise, but ultimately failed. He managed to get a commitment from McConnell to hold a vote on the Graham-Durbin DACA bill, but Democrats wouldn’t accept this because McConnell refused to package the bill with the omnibus budget bill. Democrats want assurances that the DACA deal will pass, not assurances that it will be voted on, and packaging it with the omnibus will accomplish that since the budget bill must be passed to avoid a shutdown. 

Not only that, but the Democrats were willing to support a short term CR that lasted only a couple of days, whereas Republicans wanted a CR that lasted a couple of weeks. This is, again, because of DACA. The protections DACA affords illegal immigrants expires in March, which means that the closer to that deadline negotiations get, the more desperate the Democrats become, which gives the Republicans the upper hand. 

Both sides believe that they have the upper hand in terms of who’ll be blamed by the public, and so neither side will back down.  

Graham proposed a CR that would expire on February 8th, and this proposal will be voted on this weekend, possibly today. But Democrats have proposed a CR that would expire on January 22nd. In all other regards, the dueling proposals are the same.

ETA: Oh yeah, one more thing. This situation is complicated by the fact that no one knows what Trump wants. According to Schumer, Trump shifted his stance repeatedly during their meeting, which isn’t surprising since Trump is notoriously feeble-minded. 

Any CR passed by Congress requires Trump’s approval in order to be valid. 

[arlingtonpark]

T plus :21

Welp, I’m done.

If you’ll excuse me, I’m off to a swanky Capitol Hill bar called the Capitol Lounge for some shutdown themed drinks.

[arlingtonpark]

L minus 0

The dealine has passed, but if they can work something out overnight, then effectively it’ll be like the shutdown never happened. 

[arlingtonpark]

L minus :08

Major huddling going on now at both Schumer and McConnell’s desks. This is it. 

Once again, Graham is at the center of things, quite literally this time. He’s at the center of the big huddle going on right now trying to broker a deal. 

[arlingtonpark]

L minus 13

I should note that the CarryOut, the US Senate’s in-house restaurant, will be open Saturday morning. Usually they’re closed on weekends. 

[arlingtonpark]

L minus 1:07

What the hell? Why is Dana Rohrabacher on the floor? He’s not even a Senator!

[arlingtonpark]

L minus 1:12 

TFW you’re such a goddamn loser you spend Friday night watching C-SPAN instead of living you’re life.