The chances of the federal government shutting down Friday at 11:59 PM are growing minute by minute.
A continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government open and operating past Friday was all set, but after right wing extremists on Fox News, on social media, and on conservative radio hammered Trump overnight for “caving” by agreeing to sign the bill without his $5 billion border wall funding, everything changed.
The House has yet to vote on the bill. After an “emergency” phone call between Trump and Ryan, and later, a “long and productive” meeting with President Trump and top House GOP leaders, Speaker Ryan announced Trump has declared he will not sign the bill without the $5 billion border wall funding.
Ryan has now added the $5 billion to the CR, to get Trump to sign it.
There are not enough votes in the House to pass the bill with Trump’s border wall funding.
While it’s doubtful the House version would pass, even if it did, there are not enough Senators in town to actually vote to pass the updated version – assuming there are even enough votes to get there.
Right now, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Rush Limbaugh have proven they still run the GOP, and this president.
CNN’s Brian Stelter points to this tweet from a talk radio personality saying Limbaugh announced Trump personally called him to let him know about the $5 billion.
Mediaite adds that Limbaugh, on his radio show, said this afternoon, “I just got a phone call — well, I got an instant message, it’s the equivalent of you getting a phone call, because that’s how people communicate with me.”
That message allegedly read: “You tell Rush that if there’s no money in this, it’s getting vetoed. If there’s no money for a wall I’m vetoing this plain and simple.”
Limbaugh then announced, “The president has gotten word to me that he is either getting funding for the border or he’s shutting the whole thing down.”
Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr and a CC license