More Chaos as President Threatens Government Shutdown and Defense Secretary Resigns

A year that began amid a swirl of chaos is set to conclude in an intensifying swirl of disorder and uncertainty. As the number of active investigations into the President and his administration grew, the President continued to run to the security of his political base. Following the recent announcement that Chief of Staff John F. Kelly would leave his post with no successor being announced at the time, Trump invited news cameras to chronicle a theatrical exchange with congressional Democrats where the President happily proclaimed that he would shut down the federal government if Congress did not appropriate $5 billion dollars to build a border Mexico - a pledge that captured the ire of many Senate Republicans - particularly given that there are not enough votes in Congress to support the funding or the construction. The Senate thus passed a bipartisan appropriations bill to keep all government agencies open through February 8, 2019. The measure was set to be passed by the House and was expected to be signed by the President. Then, following the now predictable backlash from talking heads on Fox channel programs, the President reversed course vowing once again to shutter the government unless he received funding for a wall. The actions forced the House to then pass a perfunctory measure to provide the President’s desired $5 billion for a wall, but the plan has little to no chance of passing the Senate. Thus, when current legislation expires on February 21, it is increasi...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news