25 January 2019 — 1546 mst
Our government will be opened for three weeks —
then Trump and McConnell probably will close it again
The NY Times, Washington Post, and other news outlets, are reporting that President Trump has agreed to a bill that reopens our government for three weeks so that federal workers can do their jobs and get paid for doing them. The “compromise” does not address funding for Trump’s steel bollard fence along the Mexican border.
This sounds better than it is. Three weeks isn’t much time to cut a deal, but it’s plenty of time to take some of the heat off Trump, who told the Washington Post:
If a “fair deal” does not emerge by Feb. 15, Trump said, there could be another government shutdown or he could declare a national emergency, a move that could allow him to direct the military to build the wall without congressional consent. Such an action would likely face an immediate legal challenge.
For Trump, “fair deal” means he gets $5.7 billion for his wall, the Democrats get nothing and are humiliated, and everyone knows that Trump’s bullying and disregard for the nation, and his disregard of his constitutional obligation to see that the laws are faithfully executed, made him top dog.
This isn’t over.