It’s that time of year when Republicans, instead of passing a budget, fight with Democrats over a continuing resolution amid a looming government shutdown.







Friday night at midnight is the deadline when the next government shutdown goes into effect.

Here’s the lowdown:

USA TODAY – After two shutdowns and five stop-gap spending bills, House Republican leaders are expected to release a $1.3 trillion spending bill in the coming days that would fund the government through Sept. 30, the end of the this fiscal year. The bill must be passed by both the House and Senate and signed by President Trump before Saturday, or there will be another partial shutdown of federal agencies. Democrats and Republicans agreed on top-line spending levels in February, when they approved a sweeping budget deal and a short-term funding measure to keep the government open until midnight March 23. But lawmakers are still quibbling over a bevy of specific provisions that could be jammed into the $1.3 trillion spending bill. The flashpoints include everything from funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, which President Trump wants, to de-funding Planned Parenthood, which House conservatives want. Democrats have said they want a “clean” spending bill that does not include such controversial add-ons. House Republicans are meeting Monday evening to discuss the massive spending bill before releasing the text publicly.

I’m not sure why Congress doesn’t just pass a budget and get it over with. They can use reconciliation to pass it in the Senate which means just a simple majority. There may be a good reason for why they aren’t, but short of that, they should have already passed one.