Incoming White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney warned that it is “very possible” the partial government shutdown will run into 2019, as President Donald Trump insists funding for the border wall must be included.
“It’s very possible this shutdown will go beyond the 28th and into the new Congress,” Mulvaney said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“I think there’s an implication here for Nancy Pelosi’s election for the speakership,” he continued. “I think she’s now in that unfortunate position of being beholden to her left wing, to where she cannot be seen as agreeing with the president on anything until after she’s speaker.”
The federal government is in a partial shutdown after Senate Republicans failed to receive enough votes to pass a short-term spending bill Friday that included funding for a border wall.
The Senate voted to proceed with the government funding bill 48-47, as some senators were not present for the floor vote, and Vice President Mike Pence arrived for a tie-breaking vote. Alabama Sen. Doug Jones was the only Democrat who voted for the bill. He agreed because of a deal reportedly put together by Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker, which says senators will not vote on anything else until they figure out the spending bill.
President Donald Trump asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell before the vote to use a nuclear option to end the filibuster and pass funding for the border wall, which McConnell did not do. The House and Senate are reportedly working with a “skeleton crew” and are not expecting to vote until after Christmas.
The two parties will now have to figure out an agreement, and the senators must be present for a vote on the Senate floor to send a bill to the president to sign and end the government shutdown.
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