WASHINGTON – Congressional aides are saying to expect another short-term Continuing Resolution (CR) to deal with funding the government for a few more weeks and into mid-February, but cautions that another CR is no guarantee. Prospects for any deal were diminished because of a report of President Trump’s alleged comments in a meeting about the desire to stop immigration from “shithole countries.” The president’s latest “self-created outrage du jour makes it harder for (the GOP) to get Democrats on board for anything,” said Doug Heye, a former top Republican congressional aide. President Trump has denied those reports and blamed Democrats for backing away from an agreed upon deal and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) for having “totally misrepresented” what was said at the meeting. He Tweeted: “Deals can’t get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military.” GOP and Democrat leaders had engaged with the White House last week on a deal on federal spending, which would bring Democrat support to prevent a government shutdown, and include protections for (“Dreamers”) brought into the U.S. illegally. Without a spending bill, the federal government would shut non-emergency functions starting Saturday at 12:01 a.m. (EST). (Source: Wall Street Journal 01/16/18 UPDATE: U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has introduced a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government open through Feb. 16. If enacted, the CR (H.J.Res. 125) will replace the one that expires Jan. 19, becoming the fourth stopgap measure for FY 2018. The CRs are needed because Congress can't reach an agreement on an FY-18 budget, nearly four months after the start of the FY. Whether Congress will pass the CR and avert a shutdown is not clear because some lawmakers assert CRs hurt military readiness. Yet, if the government does shut down, it punishes military and government retirees, and social security recipients.
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