The White House advised government agencies on Thursday evening to prepare for a government shutdown as conservatives in Congress revolted against a two-year budget deal crafted by Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell.
White House Office of Management and Budget spokesman John Czwartacki said, “Agencies are now being urged to review and prepare for lapse” in spending after midnight.
The federal government will shut down on Friday if Congress does not pass a spending bill before midnight on Thursday.
The budget deal between Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell will increase defense and domestic spending by roughly $400 billion over the next two years; the Defense Department’s budget will rise by $80 billion and domestic spending will increase by $63 billion in 2018 alone. The budget deal will also raise the debt ceiling for one year.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) staged a coup on Thursday against the two-year budget deal crafted by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Paul will continue to block consideration of the budget deal until he gets a vote on an amendment to the budget that retains the spending caps created through the Budget Control Act of 2011.
Sen. Paul told Fox News, “There’s only so much I can do. This is a silly thing about it. I can keep them here until 3:00 a.m. I will make them listen to me and they will have to have me to listen to me.”
Paul continued, “I’m not advocating for shutting down the government. I’m also not advocating for keeping the damn thing open and borrowing a million dollars a minute. This is reckless spending that is out of control.”
Even if the bill were to pass in the Senate, it remains unclear whether the House has the votes to pass the two-year budget.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) told Breitbart News, “Stench of the swamp is sucking in everyone on Capitol Hill,” regarding the Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell deal.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) previously suggested that she would oppose the budget deal because the bill did not include amnesty for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) illegal immigrants. However, Pelosi suggested at a closed-door meeting on Thursday night that Democrats might leverage their support for the budget deal in exchange for a floor vote on DACA legislation.
Pelosi reportedly told Democratic lawmakers, “We have a moment. They don’t have the votes. All of us should use our leverage. This is what we believe in.”
“We will vote Thursday or early Friday morning. Not enough to pass with just Republican votes. They need Nancy Pelosi and Democrats to get this thing across. We need to start acting in a fiscally responsible manner once again,” Meadows charged.
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