About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2018)
WASHINGTON/POLITICS The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Tuesday, December 18, 2018 5A Trump meets with team as clock ticking to shutdown BY LISA MASCARO, MATTHEW DALY AND CATHERINE LUCEY Associated Press WASHINGTON — The standoff over President Donald Trump’s $5 billion wall funds deepened Mon day, threatening a partial government shutdown in a stand off that has become increasingly com mon in Washington. It wasn’t always like this, with Con gress and the White House at a crisis over government funding. The House and Senate used to pass annual appropriation bills, and the president signed them into law. But in recent years the shutdown scenario has become so routine that it raises the question: Have shutdowns as a negotiating tool lost their punch? Monday brought few signs of progress. A partial shutdown that could occur at midnight Friday risks dis rupting government opera tions and leaving hundreds of thousands of federal employ ees furloughed or working without pay over the holiday season. Costs would be likely in the billions of dollars. Trump was meeting with his team and getting regular updates, said White House spokeswoman Sarah Hucka- bee Sanders. Trump was also tweeting Monday to keep up the pressure. The president is insist ing on $5 billion for the wall along the southern border with Mexico, but he does not have the votes from the Republican-led Congress to support it. Democrats are offering to continue funding at current levels, $1.3 billion. It’s unclear how many House Republicans, with just a few weeks left in the major ity before relinquishing power to House Democrats, will even show up mid-week for possible votes. Many say it’s up to Trump and Demo crats to cut a deal. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell opened the chamber Monday hoping for a “bipartisan collaborative spirit” that would enable Congress to finish its work. “We need to make a sub stantial investment in the integrity of our border,” McCo nnell said. “And we need to close out the year’s appropriation process.” Meanwhile more than 800,000 govern ment workers are preparing for the uncertainty ahead. The dispute could affect nine of 15 Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Inte rior, Agriculture, State and Justice, as well as national parks and forests. About half the workers would be forced to continue working without immediate pay. Others would be sent home. Con gress often approves their pay retroactively, even if they were ordered to stay home. “Our members are asking how they are supposed to pay for rent, food, and gas if they are required to work without a paycheck,” said a state ment from J. David Cox, Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the large federal worker union. “The holiday season makes these inquiries especially heart-wrenching. ” Many agencies, including the Pentagon and the depart ments of Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Ser vices, are already funded for the year and will continue to operate as usual, regardless of whether Congress and the president reach agreement this week. Congress already approved funding this year for about 75 percent of the government’s discretionary account for the budget year that began Oct. 1. The U.S. Postal Service, busy delivering packages for the holiday season, wouldn’t be affected by any govern ment shutdown because it’s an independent agency. Trump said last week he would be “proud” to have a shutdown to get Congress to approve a $5 billion down payment to fulfill his cam paign promise to build a bor der wall. During his 2016 presi dential campaign, Trump promised that Mexico would pay for the wall. Mexico has refused. Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, in a meet ing last week at the White House, sug gested keeping fund ing at its current level, $1.3 billion. Trump had nei ther accepted nor rejected the Demo crats’ offer, telling them he would take a look. “He is not going to get the wall in any form,” Schumer said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He said Republi cans should join in the Dem ocrats’ offer. “Then, if the president wants to debate the wall next year, he can. I don’t think he’ll get it. But he shouldn’t use innocent work ers as hostage for his temper tantrum.” One option for lawmaker would be to provide stopgap funding for a few weeks, until the new Congress con venes Jan. 3, when Pelosi is poised to become House speaker. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, who is in line to become the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, said suggested a stopgap bill could be one way to resolve the issue or a longer-term bill that includes money for border security. a. Trump A Xfc Schumer Pelosi flashes survival skills that she’ll need in new year BY ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON — Rep. Nancy Pelosi is formidable but not immortal. The California Democrat seems to have sewn up her return as House speaker next month, but she also has accepted a maximum four- year expiration date on her tenure. She previously had resisted any term limit, say ing it would weaken her. Pelosi had overwhelming support among Democrats for the top job. But to ensure the majority — probably 218 votes — she will need when the full House elects the speaker Jan. 3, she had to quell a rebellion by a stub born faction of Democrats demanding a new generation of leaders. It took five weeks but she prevailed, wielding skills she will need to manage the roughly 235 Democrats, among the 435 representa tives, who will comprise the House majority in the new Congress. A look at what that fight suggests about the coming year: SKILLED, RESPECTED AND SOME SAY FEARED... Pelosi can find adversar ies amenable to negotiation and cut deals with them, outnumber and isolate oppo nents and count votes. She can use a network of allies inside and outside Congress to exert pressure. She has experience and relationships built during three decades in Congress — the last 16 years leading Democrats as House minority leader or speaker, the job she held from 2007 into January 2011. Her ability to apparently nail down the votes she will need is evidence of the broad and deep support she has from Democrats. That should give her a strong start ing point when she needs to make strategic decisions for her party or round up votes for legislation. Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., among the rebels who opposed Pelosi’s elec tion as speaker until the term-limit deal, said no rival for the speaker’s job emerged because no one wanted to directly challenge her. “She’s tough, she’s good, she’s a woman, she’s done it before,” Sanchez said. “People are afraid of her,” said Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., who remains against Pelosi. “And it’s tough to take pressure, I guess.” ...BUT SHE DID MAKE A CONCESSION Pelosi, 78, didn’t seem to clinch her victory until agreeing in writing to serve no more than two two-year terms as speaker. She says that means she won’t be a weakened lame duck, since she can poten tially be re-elected to the job in 2020. Her backers note she’d be approaching her 83rd birthday as that second term expires and say she wasn’t going to serve forever anyway. Still, the agreement marked a retreat from initial statements that she would not specify an end date to her service because she did not want to lose clout. To any Democrat watching, it showed that as with any congressional leader, rank- and-file lawmakers in suf ficient numbers can extract concessions. WHICH DEMOCRATS COULD CAUSE HER PROBLEMS? While Pelosi’s most outspo ken Democratic opponents span the ideological spec trum, many are moderates in a party that tilts decisively in a liberal direction. Yet once it comes to writing and passing bills, Pelosi’s thorni est problems may well come from the party’s left wing, not its centrists. The most hard-left Demo crats could try pushing Pelosi to move faster and further than she would like on uni versal health care and trying to impeach President Donald Trump. The notion of government-paid health care for all scares off many moderates wary of its huge costs. Fear ful of moving prema turely and making Democrats look par tisan and overzeal- ous, Pelosi has said that impeachment needs to be handled with caution. To show that Democrats can govern, there may be times when Pelosi will want her colleagues to produce bills that can get Trump’s signature, perhaps on infrastructure. That would require passing legislation acceptable to Republicans. In those instances, it could be hardcore liberals, not Democratic moderates, who are likely to cause most of Pelosi’s heartburn. THIRST FOR CHANGE REMAINS While Pelosi seems assured of being speaker through 2020 and perhaps two additional years beyond that, the desire for fresh lead ers will remain an important dynamic among Democrats. There are plenty of younger, ambitious Demo crats j ockeying to move up as Pelosi prepares to move off the scene. Reps. Steny Hoyer of Maryland and James Cly- burn of South Carolina, the second- and third-ranking leaders, are also in their late 70s and some Democrats want them to get out of the way too, though neither has displayed any enthusiasm about that. Democrats have elected five fresh faces to lower- level leadership jobs: Reps. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mex ico, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Cheri Bustos of Illinois, David Cicilline of Rhode Island and Katherine Clark of Massachusetts. Jeffries and Lujan are in their 40s; the others are in their 50s. “I think the change has started. I think it’s going to accelerate,” said Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., who wanted new leaders and helped negotiate the term limits Pelosi accepted. PAID ADVERTISEMENT Hemp Gummies Shown To Relieve Discomfort Hemp Gummies offer users fast acting relief from joint and muscle discomfort that’s absolutely delicious; now available in the U.S. without a prescription A GUMMY A DAY TO KEEP ALL YOUR ACHES AWAY: Hemp Gummies a 5 milligram dose of Hemp Extract that works all day to keep you comfortable. Chris Laufstein Associated Health Press BOSTON — For millions battling daily discomfort, this news couldn’t be more exciting. 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