Trump finally did it – has entire Capitol Hill GOP freaking out!
Congratulations to real estate mogul Donald Trump, who (if you will excuse a Game of Thrones simile) just channeled Walder Frey and stuck a yuuuuge stilletto in the back of Republican Congressional leaders in high “Red [Party] Wedding” style:
President Donald Trump, siding with Democrats over fellow Republicans, reached a deal with congressional leaders of both parties to extend the U.S. debt limit until Dec. 15 as well as avoid a government shutdown and provide disaster relief.
The agreement marked a rare instance of bipartisan compromise since Trump took office in January. If passed by the Republican-led Congress, it would avert an unprecedented default on U.S. government debt, keep the government funded for the first three months of the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 and provide aid to victims of Hurricane Harvey.
Trump has tangled repeatedly as president with top House of Representatives Democrat Nancy Pelosi and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer but embraced their proposal – ridiculed by Republican leaders – for a three-month debt limit extension.
“This is a really positive step forward,” Schumer later told reporters. “It was a really good moment of some bipartisanship.”
“The nation can breathe a sigh of relief. We’ve avoided default. We’ve avoided government shutdown,” Schumer said.
Read between the lines of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s comment – which reeks of bitter, glorious butt-hurt.
”His feeling was that we needed to come together, to not create a picture of divisiveness at a time of genuine national crisis,“ McConnell told reporters, referring to Trump. ”And that was the rationale, I‘m confident, for his decision to agree to what I‘m going to be offering“ on the Senate floor.
McConnell, Ryan, and the rest of the Hill GOP leadership were completely blindsided,
… upending negotiations in a variety of crucial policy areas in the fall and further damaging his relationships with Republicans on Capitol Hill. …
The president’s decision came barely an hour after House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) panned the idea of a brief debt hike, accusing Democrats of “playing politics” with much-needed aid for Hurricane Harvey victims. … Trump, apparently, disagreed.
…
by agreeing to also suspend the debt ceiling until Dec. 15, Trump has improved Democrats’ position in upcoming negotiations.
The agreement would force Congress to vote on the debt ceiling by Dec. 15, probably prohibiting the Treasury Department — for the first time — from using emergency steps to delay a default. Typically, the department can use emergency steps to avoid default for several months past any debt-ceiling deadline, but the agreement Schumer reached with Trump at the White House would force another vote.
The short-term extensions for the debt ceiling and government funding are also expected to further cloud the prospects for enacting major tax cuts, Trump’s top domestic priority at the moment. They effectively mean spending and budget fights will continue for months, just as the GOP was hoping to coalesce around a plan to cut taxes.
Politico‘s Jake Sherman reported via Twitter what the “lamestream” media won’t:
i am told by multiple sources Rs are furious. The Democratic ploy — to keep debt limit short term — worked. It took just a few hours
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) September 6, 2017
TO BE CLEAR: Debt limit, govt funding expires 12/15. Ryan, McConnell, McCarthy were all opposed. Trump, Pelosi, Schumer were on same side
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) September 6, 2017
And, of course, this means that in a few months – at the end of the year, and just before midterm primary season – Republicans will have to scramble to raise the debt ceiling again and not be able to push forward anything on their agenda, just as the unofficial midterm primary season begins (and turns into “Game of GOP Thrones”).
