Another government funding deadline looms in Washington on January 19, precisely two weeks before Groundhog Day. While this Congress has been the least productive in modern history, it has produced multiple versions of the shutdown dance, and other predictable jigs, worthy of being added to Groundhog Day 2.
How has this movie sequel not been made yet? A movie famously about repeating history hasn't been repeated. Come on Hollywood, how'd you miss this one?
"Shut the border down or we will shut the government down," was the language several Republicans were using last week on social media platforms, according to Forbes. I came across one of these posts myself, hoping it was an outlier. The problem in the House right now is that the "outliers" have been running it.
Speaker Mike Johnson reached a tentative funding deal with Democrats over the weekend that will not satisfy these outliers, just like the last speaker's deal didn't. As reported by PBS News Hour, the spending package doesn't deeply cut anything and leaves negotiations on funding for Ukraine, Israel and broad border policy changes still to be addressed separately.
If it seems like a status quo deal, it's because it primarily is one. "It reflects the funding levels that I negotiated with both parties and signed into law last spring," President Biden said in response. Democrat leaders in both the Senate and House also gave the deal their approvals.
Outliers, particularly in the House, won't like this one bit. The only question at the moment is whether they will go along with their new speaker or if they will run Johnson out just like they did Kevin McCarthy last year. Other than the person holding the gavel, I don't see what has changed.
Except, of course, the most recent absurd negotiation stance about the border. It's as if the outliers don't understand that shutting down the government, at some point and by definition, also means handicapping border enforcement. Details are not the specialty of the outliers.
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