A trillion-plus-dollar budget package averting federal government shutdown is headed for a vote in the U-S House, minus a number of items President Trump has been pushing for. Carleton College political analyst Steven Schier says the president agreed to a lot of items that please Democrats — like no border wall or E-P-A cuts, plus funding for certain domestic programs. Schier says, “Clearly this is not something that Republicans are that ecstatic about, but it may that Trump is doing this now to try and sweeten future deals in negotiations with Democrats.” Schier says it could help Trump establish some sort of working relationship with some Democrats in Congress, which he’ll probably need going forward.
The Trump administration is also pushing the U-S House to vote this week on version three of proposed legislation that would repeal Obamacare, but Schier says the prospectus is if-ey. “If it passes, it’ll pass by a whisker,” he says. “And then the prospects are far from promising in the U-S Senate, where Republicans have a very narrow majority.” Schier says it’s unlikely the Senate would be able to agree on an approach that would get approval of House Republicans. He says it’s still a long shot for the president that any health care bill becomes law.
More in this interview: