SHUTDOWN? Trump and GOP Fail Art of the Deal, Closure of Federal Government All but Certain

GOP Has Minutes to Avoid Shutting Down the Federal Government

Just 90 minutes before the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s presidency the president has managed to achieve something no other U.S. president has done: likely shut done the federal government when his party controls the White House and both houses in Congress. 

Senate Republicans, under the leadership of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, failed to reach an agreement to keep the federal government open. A critical procedural vote that would allow a vote on a bill to do just that moments ago failed to achieve 60 votes. 

Many Americans according to polls released today blame President Trump and the Republicans. Far fewer Americans blame the Democrats.

CNN’s Keith Boykin Friday evening explained why the GOP is entirely to blame:

President Trump has been all but absent in working to avoid a shutdown. Up until about 10 hours ago he was scheduled to fly to Mar-a-Lago at 4:10 PM to attend a Saturday evening gala in his honor celebrating the first year of his presidency. Tickets cost $100,000 to $250,000 per couple, and proceeds go to the RNC and Trump’s re-election campaign. Trump may still fly down on Saturday.

At issue is DACA, which President Trump says he supports and promised live on national television to sign any bill the Congress sent him. The Senate could pass it right now. CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, expired months ago and Senator McConnell has repeatedly refused to fix it – along with DACA.

UPDATE – GOP SHUTDOWN: White House Calls Democrats ‘Losers’ as Republicans Fail to Keep Government Open

Senator McConnell posted this tweet earlier Friday, proving he’s using children as pawns:

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden offered this response:

This is a breaking news and developing story. Details may change. This story will be updated, and NCRM will likely publish follow-up stories on this news. Stay tuned and refresh for updates.