A day after Republicans celebrated their biggest legislative accomplishment to date when the House passed the White House's tax-reform package in a nearly party-line vote, Republicans are scrambling to pass a continuing resolution that will avert a Christmas shutdown.
Readers can watch the vote below:
http://houselive.gov/MediaPlayer.php
Per ABC, House Republicans unveiled a new, stripped-down spending bill early Thursday that would punt acting some of the most controversial legislative priorities until early next year, virtually guaranteeing unanimous opposition from Democrats, who are demanding that Congress enshrine protections for so-called "dreamers" - undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children. Earlier this year, President Trump eliminated protections put in place by his predecessor, but promised Democrats that Congress would act to preserve those protections in legislation.
The House may also vote on an $81 billion disaster aid package that was initially going to be included as part of the continuing resolution, but has since been separated into its own piece of legislation by the leadership.
Another bipartisan priority, resources to combat the opioid crisis, is also notably absent from the "clean" spending bill.
The bill would keep the government operating through Jan. 19 and permit lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats — to head home for the holidays. It would delay battles over the budget, health care and immigration into January, denying Democrats wins that they had hoped to score this year.
Failure to pass the measure would trigger a government shutdown at midnight Friday, which would amount to a political pratfall just after the GOP scored a major win on a landmark tax bill. With Republicans controlling Washington, they would not have anyone else to blame for a shutdown debacle.
Of course, this hasn't dissuaded Trump from preemptively blaming Demorats for the shutdown, which the president ostensibly believes would detract from the Republican victory on tax reform.
House Democrats want a SHUTDOWN for the holidays in order to distract from the very popular, just passed, Tax Cuts. House Republicans, don’t let this happen. Pass the C.R. TODAY and keep our Government OPEN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2017
A final vote on the CR is expected around 4:30 ET. The measure will then proceed to the Senate, where Republicans must win the votes of at least 8 Democrats to prevent the federal government from shutting down at midnight on Friday. The Senate is expected to vote on the measure Thursday evening.