Trump signs budget deal, bringing end to second gov’t shutdown of 2018

Washington, Feb 9 (EFE).- The president of the United States on Friday morning signed a combined funding and budget bill that was passed by Congress hours earlier and will increase federal spending by hundreds of billions of dollars, bringing an end to the second government shutdown this year.



Friday’s shutdown lasted just a few hours, while an earlier partial government shutdown in January was resolved after a three-day standoff.



“Just signed Bill. Our Military will now be stronger than ever before. We love and need our Military and gave them everything – and more. First time this has happened in a long time. Also means JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!” Donald Trump wrote Friday morning on Twitter.



The legislative package assigns budget figures for the next two fiscal years but only funds the government until March 23. Lawmakers still need to work out a bipartisan spending plan covering the remainder of the current fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.



While praising the military spending, Trump lamented that Republicans were forced to compromise due to their slim majority in the Senate, where the GOP holds 51 seats and the Democrats 49.



Until Trump signed the bill, which the Senate passed with a vote of 71-28 and the House of Representatives approved by a count of 240-186, federal agencies were technically without funding.



The bill passed in the House thanks to the support of 73 Democrats and despite opposition from 67 Republican deficit-hawks.



The Senate and House eventually approved the package early Friday after Republican Sen. Rand Paul from Kentucky had filibustered the vote on Thursday.



The libertarian-leaning lawmaker said GOP lawmakers who had railed against deficit spending under former President Barack Obama, a Democrat, suddenly were willing to increase spending by hundreds of billions of dollars now that a Republican is office.



He said their actions amounted to rank hypocrisy.



The funding and budget bill includes around $300 billion in extra spending for both military programs and domestic non-military programs such as health, infrastructure and disaster relief.



It also suspends the federal debt ceiling through March 1, 2019.

 But it does not include any solution for the so-called “Dreamers,” hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants who were brought to the US as children. </s> In the wee hours of the morning, the House of Representatives voted to approve a major budget package following a brief, overnight government shutdown.

The $400 billion spending bill was sent to President Trump who signed it Friday morning, ending the brief shutdown.

The budget agreement will set spending for programs for the next two years — if they stick to it. Under the short-term agreement approved early Friday, the government is funded for another six weeks to give lawmakers time to craft a budget plan. If they don't have something long-term in place by then, the country could be in shutdown mode again in March.

The passage of the plan followed a dramatic night on Capitol Hill, where Democrats fought for some sort of promise for protections for Dreamers, the roughly 800,000 immigrants who were illegally brought into the U.S. as minors. Republicans had a problem with the amount of spending.

And while the Senate needed to move fast Thursday night to pass the package, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., effectively delayed the vote until after midnight, causing the government to briefly shut down – for the second time already this year.

Disagreements over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), led to a three-day government shutdown on Jan 20.

Fox News asked Marc Goldwein, senior policy director of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget – a bipartisan, nonprofit organization that educates the public on fiscal policy issues – to explain a government shutdown, and he answered seven basic questions about the process that Americans should know.

A shutdown occurs when Congress and the president fail to sign into law 12 appropriations bills (which determine spending for specific government agencies) in order to continue providing funding for government operations.

How can you prevent a government shutdown?

To avoid a shutdown, members of Congress can give themselves an extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR). The temporary funding measure keeps the federal government open and allows lawmakers more time to negotiate the remaining appropriations bills.

“The bar for a CR is pretty low. You’re not agreeing to anything new politically; it’s a no-brainer,” Goldwein told Fox News.

That’s exactly how the government has been operating since Oct. 1.

Funding has been extended three times since then. The House and Senate approved a temporary spending bill on Jan 22, and Trump signed the measure to keep the government funded through Feb. 8.

How long does a government shutdown last?

As long as it takes. Congressional leaders from both parties have to reach an agreement to fund the government.

It usually takes a weekend for this to happen.

“We’re talking days or weeks – not months,” Goldwein said.

The federal government would be forced to shut down “nonessential services." Who would be affected?

"Essential staff at top level agencies would continue working, but most federal employees whose jobs aren’t vital would likely be sent home," Goldwein said.

For example, those who work at national parks, monuments and museums would be told to go home.

"It doesn’t feel awesome to be told you’re not an essential employee. It's a little demoralizing to go home because you’re not important," Goldwein added.

In the 2013 shutdown, roughly 850,000 employees were furloughed per day, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

But not everyone is required to take unpaid leave.

The president, presidential appointees and members of Congress are exempt. The Postal Service, the TSA and Air Traffic Control will also continue business as usual.

Americans will still be able to get their Social Security and Medicare benefits and food stamps. However, people expecting VA benefits, unemployment benefits, farm subsidies and tax refunds may experience delays.

Do federal employees still get paid?

Most likely. The problem: They're not sure when they'll get their money.

"Everyone loses from the government shutdown. An employee loses their paycheck at the time he or she needs it," Goldwein said. "Ultimately, we’re going to fund it anyway. It’s kind of silly."

Federal employees typically receive back pay shortly upon their return, though, Goldwein says, nothing is certain. Every agency has their own contingency plan in the event of a shutdown.

How many times has the government shut down?

The government has shut down 20 times since 1976, the year Congress introduced the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s research. Half of the shutdowns occurred over a weekend.

“Before 1980, the government didn’t really shut down,” Goldwein explained. “A lot of others were over the course of weekends. I call them ‘fake shutdowns.’”

Goldwein says there have really only been three significant government shutdowns in the history of the U.S.

Two occurred during the Clinton administration in the winter of 1995 to 1996. Former President Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress were at odds and shut the government down for a total of 26 days, Goldwein said.

The third occurred during the Obama administration in 2013, when a stalemate between the House and Senate led to a 16-day hiatus.

How much money can the country lose during a shutdown?

The 16-day government shutdown in 2013 cost the country $24 billion of lost economic activity, according to an analysis from ratings agency Standard & Poor's.

"The payroll cost of furloughed employee salaries alone – that is, the lost productivity of furloughed workers – was $2.0 billion," the Office of Management and Budget reported in 2013.

Goldwein says shutdowns "waste money" more than they "cost money."

"We’re not going to spend more money. We’re just going to spend it on worse stuff," he explained. "Instead of paying employees to work, we’re paying them not to work."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. </s> United States President Donald Trump on Friday signed a combined funding and budget bill that was passed by Congress hours earlier and will increase federal spending by hundreds of billions of dollars, bringing an end to the second government shutdown this year.Friday's shutdown lasted just a few hours, while an earlier partial government shutdown in January was resolved after a three-day standoff, Efe reported."Just signed Bill. Our Military will now be stronger than ever before. We love and need our Military and gave them everything - and more. First time this has happened in a long time. Also means JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!" Donald Trump wrote Friday morning on Twitter.The legislative package assigns budget figures for the next two fiscal years but only funds the government until March 23. Lawmakers still need to work out a bipartisan spending plan covering the remainder of the current fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.While praising the military spending, Trump lamented that Republicans were forced to compromise due to their slim majority in the Senate, where the GOP holds 51 seats and the Democrats 49.Until Trump signed the bill, which the Senate passed with a vote of 71-28 and the House of Representatives approved by a count of 240-186, federal agencies were technically without funding.The bill passed in the House thanks to the support of 73 Democrats and despite opposition from 67 Republican deficit-hawks.The Senate and House eventually approved the package early Friday after Republican Sen. Rand Paul from Kentucky had filibustered the vote on Thursday.The libertarian-leaning lawmaker said GOP lawmakers who had railed against deficit spending under former President Barack Obama , a Democrat, suddenly were willing to increase spending by hundreds of billions of dollars now that a Republican is office.He said their actions amounted to rank hypocrisy.The funding and budget bill includes around $300 billion in extra spending for both military programs and domestic non-military programs such as health, infrastructure and disaster relief.It also suspends the federal debt ceiling through March 1, 2019.But it does not include any solution for the so-called "Dreamers," hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants who were brought to the US as children. </s> U.S. President Donald Trump signed Congress' newly passed $1.3 trillion spending bill on Friday, ending suspense over a surprising threat he made hours earlier to veto the budget and shut down the federal government. </s> LOS ANGELES (CBSLA/CBS News) – The government officially entered a partial government shutdown at midnight Saturday. The House and Senate failed to come to agreement on President Trump’s $5 billion border wall, and Mr. Trump declared last week he’d be “proud” to shut down the government to get it.

On Wednesday, it seemed possible he’d sign a bill that didn’t explicitly fund his wall and find money for it elsewhere, but that idea evaporated Thursday under pressure from conservative Republicans, who advised him that it would look like he was caving on his campaign promise to erect the wall.

Democrats in Congress don’t want to spend more than $1.6 billion on border security. The Senate initially passed a bill without the wall funding. But Republicans in the House passed a stopgap bill Thursday night that inserted $5 billion for the wall, a move that means the Senate will have to vote again on the measure. It has no chance of passage, since the bill needs 60 votes to pass, and there is no Democrat who will support the wall funding.

Meanwhile, the president was expected to head to Mar-a-Lago for his more than two-week holiday vacation, but he stayed in Washington while First Lady Melania Trump and their 12-year-old son Barron went without him.

This is the third shutdown under Mr. Trump’s presidency, following two very brief shutdowns over the span of one month earlier this year. Before Mr. Trump took office, no shutdown had occurred when one party controlled the House, Senate and White House since the 1970s, when the federal government shut down under Jimmy Carter.

When did the government shutdown start

This is a partial government shutdown. A number of departments and agencies are funded through September 2019, thanks to previously passed appropriations bills. Funding that expires after Dec. 21 covers the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department, the State Department, the Interior Department, the Departure of Agriculture and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, among some other federal entities.

In the event of a shutdown, the Office of Management and Budget — the office still run by incoming acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney — issues guidance to each agency and each agency would develop its own shutdown plan. In a shutdown, federal agencies must halt all “non-essential” discretionary work and so-called non-essential employees must stay home until new funding legislation is signed into law.

The shutdown will last until both the House and Senate pass a funding bill, and the president signs it.
• The U.S. Postal Service would still operate, and mail would be delivered as usual.
• Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents would still work, and air travel would continue virtually unaffected. Holiday travel could continue as planned.
• Social Security checks would be mailed as planned. Social Security doesn’t fall under one of the affected departments anyways, but even if it did, those checks would be unaffected.
• Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation would go on unimpeded.
• Customs and Border Patrol agents at the border, and U.S. troops deployed to the border, would still work as usual. They just wouldn’t get paid at the time.
• The Smithsonian announced that its museum and the National Zoo will remain open through Jan. 1 by using prior-year funds.

What government services will stop during the shutdown

Nine of the 15 federal departments as well as dozens of agencies will close or reduce operations, according to Democrats on the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture would close down state and local farm service centers across the country, according to Senate Committee on Appropriations report
• The Federal Housing Administration would see slowdowns in loan processing and approvals, and new loan applications may be halted altogether

The government services that could close
• The National Parks Service is not fully closing down, but its services will be pared back. National Park Service Chief Spokesperson Jeremy Barnum said in a statement: “In the event of a government shutdown national parks will remain as accessible as possible while still following all applicable laws and procedures. For example, this means that roads that have already been open will remain open (think snow removal) and vault toilets (wilderness type restrooms) will remain open. However, services that require staffing and maintenance such as campgrounds and full service restrooms, will not be operating.”
• Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said that the Grand Canyon will remain open regardless of a government shutdown. “We have a plan in place and we’re ready to go. If you have plans to visit the Grand Canyon over the weekend, keep ’em,” he said.
• NORAD announced that if a government shutdown occurs, the annual NORAD Tracks Santa tradition will continue. “Military personnel who conduct NORAD Tracks Santa are supported by approximately 1,500 volunteers who make the program possible each and every year,” NORAD said in a statement.

What happens to federal employees during shutdown

More than 420,000 federal employees would have to go to work without pay, according to the Senate Appropriations Committee. The committee estimates that includes:
• More than 41,000 law enforcement and correctional officers
• Up to 88 percent of Department of Homeland Security employees

On top of that, more than 380,000 federal employees would be furloughed — meaning, sent home without pay — the committee estimates. That includes:
• Roughly 86 percent of the Department of Commerce staff

Since it’s unclear how long a shutdown would last, if one does indeed occur, it’s unclear what kind of disruption there would be in federal employee paychecks. During the most recent shutdown in January 2018, the three-day shutdown over the weekend wasn’t quite long enough to delay paychecks.

Congress isn’t required to pay back pay to furloughed employees, but historically, they have.

“Our members are asking how they are supposed to pay for rent, food, and gas if they are required to work without a paycheck,” David Cox, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement. “The holiday season makes these inquiries especially heart-wrenching.”

Ironically, a government shutdown, according to the Center for a Responsible Federal Budget, tends to cost more than keeping the government open does. Creating contingency plans costs resources, uncollected fees are lost, and furloughed employees typically get back pay anyways.

Without approved funding legislation, there is no timeline for a shutdown.

The longest shutdown occurred during President Bill Clinton’s time in office, also over the holidays – a 21-day shutdown from Dec. 15, 1995, to Jan. 6, 1996.

In the event of a shutdown, it’s quite possible the issue wouldn’t be resolved until the new Congress begins Jan. 3. Democrats will take control of the House then.

But as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said last week, “I’m just sort of hoping for a Christmas miracle here.” </s> The United States House of Representatives has passed a budget deal early on Friday following approval by the Senate, thus putting an end to a brief government shutdown caused by a senator who delayed the bill so it would miss the funding deadline.

The lower chamber of Congress passed the measure in a 240-186 vote, with some Democratic Party members joining Republicans to pass the measure.

The $300-billion bill, which directs a funding increase for defense and domestic expenditures, was now set to head to President Donald Trump's desk for his signature, in order for the government's reopening to come into effect.

Republican Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky had filibustered a resolution to avert the shutdown on Thursday, arguing that his party was becoming complicit in deficit spending and describing it as the very definition of hypocrisy. </s> US Government shuts down for second time in 2018 as Congress misses deadline

The US Senate has approved a budget deal hours after the Government went into shutdown for the second time this year.

The Senate's passing of the budget and a stopgap funding package means the plan will now go to the House of Representatives, where politicians are divided along party lines and passage was uncertain.

The scrambling to secure a deal comes hours after the federal shutdown began, in an embarrassing setback for the Republican-controlled Congress.

A three-day shutdown of the federal government began last month on the anniversary of the inauguration of Republican President Donald Trump, who played little role in attempts by party leaders earlier this week to head it off and end months of fiscal squabbling.

House Republican leaders had offered assurances that the package would be approved, but so did Senate leaders and the critical midnight deadline, when current government funding authority expired, was still missed.

The reason for that was a nine-hour, on-again, off-again Senate floor speech by Kentucky Republican senator Rand Paul, who objected to deficit spending in the bill.

The unexpected turn of events dragged the Senate proceedings into the wee hours and underscored the persistent inability of Congress and Mr Trump to deal efficiently with Washington's most basic fiscal obligations of keeping the Government open.

The US Office of Personnel Management advised millions of federal employees shortly after midnight to check with their agencies about whether they should report to work on Friday.

If the House acts before daybreak to approve the package from the Senate, there would be no practical interruption in federal government business.

If it does not, the result would be an actual shutdown.

Mr Paul said during his marathon speech, which strained fellow senators' patience, that the two-year budget deal would "loot the Treasury".

The proposed bill would raise military and domestic spending by almost $US300 billion over the next two years.

With no offsets in the form of other spending cuts or new tax revenues, that additional spending would be financed by borrowed money.

The bill is also opposed by House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi because Republican House leaders will not guarantee her that they will allow a debate later on about taking steps to protect about 700,000 "Dreamer" immigrants from deportation.

The budget bill would not only stave off a shutdown, but would extend the Government's debt ceiling until March 2019.

That step alone would help reduce uncertainty in the US financial markets. </s> President Donald Trump signed a major budget plan into law Friday, ending the year's second government shutdown hours after it started.

Both chambers of Congress passed a short-term funding bill in the wee hours of Friday and cleared the way for a massive boost to military and domestic spending hours after funding lapsed at midnight. The government partially shut down for the second time in less than a month.

The massive legislation cleared Congress after opposition delayed or threatened its passage in both chambers. The House narrowly passed the budget bill by 240 to 186 before dawn Friday, then sent it to Trump.

Trump tweeted Friday morning that he signed the legislation.

"Just signed Bill. Our Military will now be stronger than ever before," the president wrote. "We love and need our Military and gave them everything — and more. First time this has happened in a long time. Also means JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!"

Conservative and liberal lawmakers mounted resistance to the plan. Some GOP conservatives objected to increased spending and argued that it would recklessly increase budget deficits. Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats criticized the lack of a provision to protect hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation.

The Senate approved the measure by a 71-28 vote early Friday following Sen. Rand Paul's repeated attempts to block the vote. The Kentucky Republican opposed the spending increases contained in the agreement and wanted to vote on an amendment to maintain budget caps.

The bill sets up a two-year, $300 billion boost in spending on military and domestic programs. It also extends the debt ceiling, authorizes nearly $90 billion more in aid for last year's string of natural disasters, gives funding to fight the opioid crisis and extends the popular Children's Health Insurance Program for an additional four years. </s> US President Donald Trump delivering remarks before signing a memorandum on intellectual property tariffs on high-tech goods from China, at the White House in Washington, March 22, 2018. — Reuters picWASHINGTON, March 23 — US President Donald Trump threatened today to veto Congress’ newly passed US$1.3 trillion spending bill over immigration issues, a surprise move that could force the federal government to shutdown when funding expires later in the day.

Yesterday, the White House said Trump was expected to sign the bill into law.

The US House of Representatives and the Senate, both led by Trump’s fellow Republicans, have passed the legislation but in a post on Twitter the president criticized it for not fully funding for his proposed wall on the Mexican border or addressing Dreamer immigrants — those brought to the United States illegally when they were children.

“I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded,” Trump wrote.

The US Senate voted early today to approve a US$1.3 trillion government funding bill with large increases in military and non-defence spending, following the House’s passage yesterday and sending it Trump. — Reuters
The United States government avoids another government shutdown when President Trump signs the 1.3 Trillion dollar omnibus spending bill into law. This bill ensures no more shutdown threats until October 1, 2018.