Trump announced an end to the government shutdown that will only last until February 15.
It will allow government workers to get paid AND will allow Congress time to fund the border wall.
But if they don’t get him a fair deal on the border wall, Trump says the government will shutdown again:
JUST IN: "We really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier. If we don't get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shutdown on February 15 again or I will use the powers afforded to me…to address this emergency." https://t.co/w0K6ccMKt9 pic.twitter.com/68gUwwiRHp
— Good Morning America (@GMA) January 25, 2019
As you can see, Trump suggests the emergency option as well as another government shutdown. I think that’s because he wants to wait and see the political climate in three weeks.
But my expectation is if the Congress doesn’t give him a fair deal on the wall, he’ll shut the government down again. After having gone through this once, I don’t think anyone will want to go through it again, which means the pressure will be mounting quite heavily as we get closer to February 15th. And Trump will likely continue to hold that over the head of Democrats to use as leverage.
As I said in the comments, I think it’s a good strategy and I think it’s potentially a winning strategy.
If you’ll allow me to toot my own horn, what happened today was exactly what I predicted in the comments:
My theory:
Trump reopens the government temporarily and tells Democrats that we’re gonna be right back here in another government shutdown in a few weeks if they don’t fund the border wall. I don’t expect a National Emergency order yet.
I’ll be making superbowl predictions next!
[sce emoji=”evilgrin” /] [sce emoji=”evilgrin” /] [sce emoji=”evilgrin” /]