Back in December, Congress put together a Continuing Resolution (CR) that funded the Federal Government up until April 28th of this year. Legally, after the 28th the US Treasury is not allowed to spend any more money. Congress will have to reach an agreement before then to prevent a shutdown.

This wouldn’t stop essential personnel from working, but it could stop a number of different agencies from being able to perform certain duties. For example, it would shutdown all national parks, museums and galleries. The estimates usually put it around 800,000 employees who would not be allowed to go to work (around 1% of all full time employees in the country). So while this might be seen as a nice vacation, these employees are usually not paid while Congress attempts to sort out their differences.

Congress is currently on a recess and returns back the week of the 24th. Meaning that they will have five days to have the issue settled. Dozens of members of Congress have commented on how the negotiations are already underway, but as with most things related to Congress, budget discussion are never easy. Everyone wants their own specific items and usually these things clash.

On the Republican side, we see the same two groups that caused issues with healthcare that could be difficult on the budget as well. The moderates (some of which fall into the “Tuesday Group”) will be coming off two weeks of angry town halls and trying to ease the worries of their liberal constituents. Then we have the House Freedom Caucus who will probably attempt to defund anything they possibly can. On the other side of the aisle, the Democrats still wield a decent amount of power. Continuing Resolutions are eligible to be filibustered, meaning that Republicans in the Senate will need to gain at least 8 Democratic votes to reach the 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster and pass the spending bill.

Here are just a few of the demands that have been floating around regarding the bill:

  • Senator John McCain has said that he won’t vote for anything unless it includes an increase in military spending
  • Numerous conservatives have suggested they want to see the defunding of Planned Parenthood, which most Democrats have said would be something they would not compromise on.
  • Democrats have said that they oppose any money that will be allocated towards the construction of a border wall

Senator Schumer weighed in on the matter as well:

Our Republican colleagues know that since they control the House, the Senate, and the White House that a shutdown would fall on their shoulders, and they don’t want it

Interestingly enough, April 28th lines up directly with the President’s 100th day in office. So it’s very possible that the final thing that happens in his first 100 days is the government shutting down.