02/11/2019
Congress has to act quickly to prevent another government shutdown. FOX’s Chad Pergram has more with “The Speaker’s Lobby.”
I’m Chad Pergram with the Speaker’s Lobby.
Lawmakers have until Friday night at 11:59:59 PM Eastern time to forge an agreement to avoid another government shutdown.
There are two major concerns.
The first one is time.
The House of Representatives has a firm, 72 hour rule where they have to post the text of a bill before members can vote on a package.
Then, there are worries that even if there is an accord, President Trump won’t sign the measure.
Mr. Trump has gone back on his word before.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby had a positive meeting with the President late last week.
But everyone wonders if the President will renege as he did in December with the stopgap spending bill.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell felt burned.
Generally lawmakers are optimistic, but one senior source said there were more pessimistic than they had been.
Besides President Trump’s signature, the other lynchpin to a deal is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Lawmakers at the margins, hard left or hard right, probably wouldn’t support the deal.
They either vehemently oppose the wall, or want a wall.
But there is a big sweet spot in the middle, A coalition of Democrats and Republicans.
And Pelosi knows that a vote for border security is good for her freshmen members.
With the Speaker’s Lobby, Chad Pergram. Fox News.
