Now that Trump has backed down from demanding the wall funding be in this bill, the Senate is moving forward with a short-term bill today to fund the government through the beginning of February:
NBC NEWS – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Wednesday that a short-term bill to fund the government through Feb. 8 will be introduced later this morning, a deal that would avert a partial government shutdown over the Christmas holiday.
“Later this morning, we’ll introduce a continuing resolution that will ensure continuous funding for the federal government. The measure will provide the resources necessary to continue normal operations through February 8,” the Kentucky Republican said in remarks on the Senate floor.
That resolution will not include $5 billion in funding for the border wall that President Donald Trump said was a must in order to have his approval in order to fund key parts of the federal government before they run out of operating authority on Friday.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that Democrats would support the stopgap measure.
“Yesterday, we made some progress. Thankfully, President Trump appears to have backed down from” demanding $5 billion for a border wall,” he said.
“Insistence on $5 billion for a wall has been the biggest obstacle for keeping the government open past Friday,” he added.
If Democrats are supporting the funding bill, then that means it only needs a little Republican support. So don’t be surprised if a lot of Republicans vote against it for whatever reason.
Also this punts the debate about border wall funding to February as well.