Tag: GOP senate

The shutdown will harm the health and safety of Americans, even after it’s long over

With the U.S. federal government shutdown now the longest in history, it’s important to understand what a shutdown means for the health and safety of Americans.

The good news is that in the short run, the consequences are relatively few. But, as a researcher who studies natural disaster planning, I believe that Americans should be worried about the federal government’s long-term ability to ensure good public health and protect the public from disasters.

As the shutdown draws on, it increasingly weakens the government’s ability to protect Americans down the road, long after federal workers are allowed to go back to work. Many of these effects are largely invisible and may feel intangible because they don’t currently affect specific individuals.

View the complete January 15 article by Morten Wendelbo on The Conversation website here.

Shutdown’s Economic Damage Starts to Pile Up, Threatening an End to Growth

Federal workers, contractors and supporters demanding the reopening of the government last week. The White House estimated on Tuesday that the shutdown was causing twice as much economic damage as previously projected.CreditCreditLeigh Vogel for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The partial government shutdown is inflicting far greater damage on the United States economy than previously estimated, the White House acknowledged on Tuesday, as President Trump’s economists doubled projections of how much economic growth is being lost each week the standoff with Democrats continues.

The revised estimates from the Council of Economic Advisers show that the shutdown, now in its fourth week, is beginning to have real economic consequences. The analysis, and other projections from outside the White House, suggests that the shutdown has already weighed significantly on growth and could ultimately push the United States economy into a contraction.

While Vice President Mike Pence previously played down the shutdown’s effects amid a “roaring” economy, White House officials are now cautioning Mr. Trump about the toll it could take on a sustained economic expansion. Mr. Trump, who has hitched his political success to the economy, also faces other economic headwinds, including slowing global growth, a trade war with China and the waning effects of a $1.5 trillion tax cut.

View the complete January 15 article by Jim Tankersley on The New York Times website here.

DAY 27: Trump Shutdown Costs Workers $5,000 In Wages, Pushes Economy Closer To A Recession

It’s day 27 of the Trump Shutdown, and hundreds of thousands of workers have already lost thousands of dollars in wages. Meanwhile, the economic costs of Trump’s government shutdown continue to get worse.

The Trump Shutdown has already cost hundreds of thousands of workers more than $5,000 in wages on average.

New York Times: “The 800,000 federal workers who haven’t been paid during the government shutdown have each missed more than $5,000 in wages on average so far, according to a New York Times analysis. Combined, that’s more than $200 million per workday.”

The Trump Shutdown is pushing the economy closer to a recession.

Politico: “The partial government shutdown was supposed to be a brief non-event for the economy. Now it’s starting to look like a serious crisis that could nudge the U.S. toward recession and threaten President Donald Trump’s economic message during his reelection campaign.” Continue reading “DAY 27: Trump Shutdown Costs Workers $5,000 In Wages, Pushes Economy Closer To A Recession”

Rather than consider bills to reopen government, McConnell keeps Senate arguing about Israel

Mitch McConnell, R-KY., 2018. Credit: J. Scott Applewhite, AP

The GOP-controlled Senate may take its third vote on proceeding to a likely unconstitutional bill that won’t reopen government.

America’s longest-ever partial government shutdown gets longer and more harmful by the minute, but the one man with the power to bypass the president and resolve the situation is too busy focusing of arguing about Middle East politics to do anything.

Monday marks the 24th day of the government shutdown, making it the longest in U.S. history by three days. Trump’s refusal to fund large portions of the government unless Congress gives him billions of dollars to pay for a border wall he’d repeatedly promised would be funded entirely by Mexico has already cost the nation’s economy billions of dollars, left hundreds of thousands of federal workers struggling to make ends meet without paychecks, and left vital government services like food safety inspection effectively on pause.

The Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives (along with a dozen fed-up Republicans) has passed multiple bills to reopen all or parts of the government immediately. While these bills could become law with a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate, notwithstanding any potential Trump veto, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has repeatedly blocked attempts to even give them a vote on the senate floor, calling them a waste of time.

View the complete January 14 article by Josh Israel on the ThinkProgress website here.

These Republican lawmakers have already had it with Trump’s shutdown

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) Credit: Win McNamee, Getty Images.

Eight House Republicans voted on Thursday to reopen parts of the federal government, as two Senate Republicans backed the idea.

As President Donald Trump’s shutdown of much of the federal government is on the cusp of its third week, he claimed on Thursday that he has never had more support. But with every congressional Democrat against his decision to hold the workings of government hostage to his demand for billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars for a border wall that he’d promised would be fully funded by Mexico, and now 10 congressional Republicans standing up to him as well, he may never had had so little.

“I have never had so much support as I have in the last week over my stance for border security, for border control, and for frankly, the wall or the barrier,” Trump announced in an unusual appearance in the White House briefing room on Thursday, before leaving without taking any questions from the press.

Hours earlier, the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives had been sworn in for the 116th Congress — the first time in the nation’s history that Congress had convened with the government shutdown.

View the complete January 4 article by Josh Israel on the ThinkProgress.org website here.

Trump vents frustration over wall funding, fueling uncertainty over shutdown

President Trump on Thursday blamed Congress for refusing his request for border-wall funding, fueling uncertainty about whether he will sign a spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown.

“When I begrudgingly signed the Omnibus Bill, I was promised the Wall and Border Security by leadership. Would be done by end of year (NOW). It didn’t happen! We foolishly fight for Border Security for other countries – but not for our beloved U.S.A. Not good!” he tweeted.

Trump also planned to meet with House Republicans at noon to discuss plans to avoid a shutdown, which have been thrown into disarray by the president’s change of heart.

View the complete December 20 article by Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.

As Trump prepares for his holiday respite in Florida, he is more isolated than ever

Credit: Andrew Harnik, Associated Press

President Trump, more isolated than at any point in his presidency, is scheduled to leave Washington at the end of this week for a holiday respite: two-plus weeks at his Floridaresort, Mar-a-Lago. When he returns in January, he will be girding for what is likely to be the most difficult year yet of his tumultuous presidency.

His approval ratings aren’t much different than they were when he took office. His hardcore supporters haven’t budged. GOP elected officials remain hesitant to break with him. But his party took a beating in the midterm elections, and the legal process continues to move closer to him. Newly empowered House Democrats are preparing to challenge his authority with hearings and investigations.

Republican elected officials have stuck with him, mindful of his support among the GOP rank and file. But Senate Republicans last week joined with Democrats to deliver a pair of rebukes over the administration’s policy toward Saudi Arabia and the president’s unwillingness to condemn Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom the CIA concluded sanctioned the murder of journalist and Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Was that a one-off or cracks in the wall?

View the complete December 15 article by Dan Balz on The Washington Post website here.

Trump shock leaves Republicans anxious over 2019

Republican lawmakers are struggling to coordinate their message with President Trump heading into a divided Congress after he pulled the rug out from them once again by declaring he would be “proud” to shut down the government.

Trump shocked Republicans, who were preparing to blame Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) for a potential partial shutdown, when he said he would take sole responsibility for shuttering federal agencies if Congress doesn’t meet his demand for $5 billion in wall funding.

The televised performance left GOP senators perplexed — and worried about what’s in store for them over the next two years — as they try to work with Trump and against resurgent House Democrats led by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who’s poised to be the next Speaker.

View the complete December 13 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.

Republicans Will Own The Trump Shutdown

Donald Trump is responsible for a government shutdown. He said it himself, “I will be the one to shut it down.” And Republicans won’t be able to try to blame Democrats. Trump himself even told Democrats, “I’m not going to blame you for it.”

Trump took away a key Republican talking point. Now they will own the Trump Shutdown:

Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler: “hmm, there goes that GOP talking point.”

CBS’s Ed O’Keefe: “‘I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck,’ President Trump tells Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, robbing Republicans of a potential talking point that it’s Democrats eager to shut down the government.”

Politico’s Jake Sherman: “THE PRESIDENT has just robbed Republicans of the ability to say Democrats are shutting down government.”

NPR’s Kelsey Snell: “To be clear, this statement makes it VERY hard for Congressional Republicans to keep saying a shutdown would be Democrats’ fault. The president is literally claiming responsibility”

Senate panel cancels votes on Trump court picks amid Flake standoff

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced Wednesday that he is canceling votes on nearly two dozen of President Trump’s judicial nominees that were expected to come up in the Judiciary Committee this week.

The cancellation of the committee’s Thursday business meeting comes as Senate Republicans are in a standoff with outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who has vowed to oppose all court picks until he gets a vote on legislation protecting special counsel Robert Mueller.

The notification from the Judiciary Committee didn’t specify when, or if, the committee votes on the nominations would be rescheduled. Six circuit court nominees had been expected to get a vote, as well as 15 district court nominees.

View the complete November 28 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.