On the surface, the government shutdown involves the Senate Democrats demanding that an additional $1.5 trillion in Medicaid spending be added to the current budget in return for them to provide enough votes to allow continuation of government operations. However, this shutdown involves much more than that.
On the Democrat side this represents pacification of the Party's left wing, including its new mantra of "sticking it to Trump." Their hope is that the Republicans will eventually be blamed for the shutdown and/or they will be forced to take "undemocratic" action to end the filibuster rule to reopen the government.
On the Republican side this represents an opportunity to paint the Democrats as big spenders who are
catering to illegal aliens at the expenses of US citizens. Both of these positions are aimed at influencing the Congressional elections next year.
The wild card in this political game is what President Trump might do. On the one hand, he has called for ending the filibuster rule, which would allow the Republicans to continue funding the government without any Democrat votes. At the same time, he has taken executive action to reduce the number of government agencies and civilian employees.
However, his ultimate action could be to declare a national emergency and instruct the US Treasury to resume funding the government. While not directly authorized by the Constitution, this could provide an interesting question for the Supreme Court to decide: If the Legislature Branch becomes unable to perform its duties, does the Executive Branch have a duty to preserve the government until new elections are held?
On the Democrat side this represents pacification of the Party's left wing, including its new mantra of "sticking it to Trump." Their hope is that the Republicans will eventually be blamed for the shutdown and/or they will be forced to take "undemocratic" action to end the filibuster rule to reopen the government.
On the Republican side this represents an opportunity to paint the Democrats as big spenders who are
catering to illegal aliens at the expenses of US citizens. Both of these positions are aimed at influencing the Congressional elections next year.
The wild card in this political game is what President Trump might do. On the one hand, he has called for ending the filibuster rule, which would allow the Republicans to continue funding the government without any Democrat votes. At the same time, he has taken executive action to reduce the number of government agencies and civilian employees.
However, his ultimate action could be to declare a national emergency and instruct the US Treasury to resume funding the government. While not directly authorized by the Constitution, this could provide an interesting question for the Supreme Court to decide: If the Legislature Branch becomes unable to perform its duties, does the Executive Branch have a duty to preserve the government until new elections are held?
