US government shutdown fizzles out as Senate deal struck

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                                          (World Today Tuesday 23 January 2018)

 US government shutdown fizzles out as Senate deal struck

A woman walks outside the US Capitol just after dawn in Washington on Monday (Jan 22).

Photo: The New York Times

Updated 23 January, 2018

WASHINGTON ― The Senate has voted to end the United States government shutdown after three days by passing a temporary spending Bill and agreeing to consider a politically charged immigration proposal that promises another intense partisan fight within weeks.

The 81-18 vote sends the measure to the House, which is likely to pass it later on Monday (Jan 22). The impasse broke as Democrats accepted a deal from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that would fund the government through Feb 8. In exchange, Sen McConnell agreed to address Democratic demands that Congress quickly restore protections against deportation to young undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children, which advocates call "dreamers".

"I am pleased that Democrats and Republicans in Congress have now come to their senses," President Donald Trump said in a statement read on Monday at the White House briefing."We will make a long-term deal if and only if it's good for our country."

The agreement paves the way to reopen government offices as soon as Tuesday assuming the Bill, HR 195, is passed by the House and signed by the President. It sets the clock for a showdown between Republicans and Democrats on immigration, one that could potentially end in another stand-off over spending.

Senator John Thune, the chamber's No. 3 Republican, said it's unlikely Congress will be able to pass a final spending Bill in three weeks and will probably need a fifth stopgap measure. 

"The Republican majority now has 17 days to prevent the dreamers from being deported," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said, underscoring the impending deadline.

Senate Democrats get little as shutdown fight ends with a punt

US equity gauges closed at records as the government shutdown appeared to be on the brink of ending. The S&P 500 Index rose 0.8 per cent to 2,832.97 as of 4pm New York time, an all-time high.

The deal is the culmination of days of negotiations as both parties traded blame for the government closing that began at 12.01am on Saturday (Jan 20). White House spokesman Raj Shah said the administration supported the stopgap funding deal. "We're happy they came to their senses," Mr Shah said on CNN.

Democrats ultimately accepted Sen McConnell's commitment that if party leaders and the White House cannot reach a compromise on immigration beforehand, it's his "intention" to permit a Senate vote on an immigration measure after Feb 8.

Reckoning Postponed

Monday's bargain only postpones a reckoning on deep divisions among the two parties, conservatives in the House and Mr Trump. The President and Republican conservatives have demanded that any immigration deal includes funding for Mr Trump's signature border wall and changes in immigration laws to end visa preferences for family members of US citizens, which Mr Trump disparages as "chain migration".

A group of Senate Republicans met Mr Trump at the White House shortly after the Senate advanced the spending Bill, including No. 2 GOP leader John Cornyn and immigration hardliners Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Sen David Perdue of Georgia. "I do expect the White House to remain engaged," Sen Cornyn said afterward.

Centrist Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen Doug Jones of Alabama met Mr Trump later.

House Speaker Paul Ryan underscored the differences as Senate leaders negotiated. He promised House Republicans that they will not be bound by any arrangement reached in the Senate on immigration to reopen the government, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows and Representative Doug Collins of Georgia said on Sunday.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California told colleagues on Sunday that the chamber will take up whatever stopgap funding measure the Senate passes, according to a Republican House member. The measure likely will clear the House, the lawmaker said.

Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio said that once the House passes the spending Bill, "I'm hoping we can get serious about a whole host of issues".

Senate Democrats, who had sought firmer guarantees from McConnell on immigration, were initially reluctant to accept his terms. The measure also extended a federal children's health insurance programme.

An amendment was added saying government workers who are furloughed will still get their back pay for this shutdown and any other funding lapse in 2018.

Obama-Era Programme

Democrats, and some Republicans, wanted language protecting people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, programme, as part of the spending Bill to ensure it became law. Some Republicans have opposed such a move, calling it amnesty.

Mr Trump decided in September to end the Obama-era initiative effective in March, although he said Congress should act to protect them. The US counts 690,000 people currently enrolled in DACA.

The White House refused to negotiate over immigration, one of the Democrats' central issues, while the government remained closed. Mr Trump blamed the Democratic leader for what the White House dubbed "the Schumer Shutdown" while Sen Schumer blamed the President for "the Trump Shutdown". BLOOMBERG