She's powerful even without that big gavel

Numerous sources report that congress has reached a deal to fund the federal government for the remainder of this fiscal year.

Democrats won several major victories in this deal. Obamacare subsidies and Planned Parenthood are funded. Sanctuary cities also will continue to get funding. Democrats secured over a quarter of a billion dollars for Medicaid in Puerto Rico. They also got permanent funding for coal miner healthcare under the ACA and increased funding for opioid addiction treatment. Other important wins include a 2 billion dollar increase in funds to the NIH, preservation of 99% of EPA funding, boosts to several green energy programs in the Department of Energy, and a boost to the National Parks, all in defiance of proposed cuts by the Trump administration, as well as some gestures to protect medical marijuana.

Republicans had a number of half victories. They were able to secure funding for the military, but less than half of that requested by the Trump administration. Funding for border security was also half that Trump wanted.

Notably, there is no funding for any new border wall between the United States and Mexico.

When your party controls congress and the minority party still appears to be calling the shots, there’s probably weak leadership in the GOP, but we have to acknowledge the focus and discipline of the Democratic caucus in securing these victories despite having control of none of the branches of government. Thank you Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Caucus for being the real master negotiators.

Of course we have many tough fights ahead and the real battle for funding will be the budget, but this is a remarkable achievement. Let’s take this energy and keep the pressure on congressional Republicans in the upcoming vote to gut the ACA and in those special elections in Georgia, Montana, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Alabama.

Sources:

www.nbcnews.com/…

www.washingtontimes.com/...

www.cbsnews.com/…

www.washingtonpost.com/…

apnews.com/...

www.bloomberg.com/…

(The Bloomberg article has the most details on how much each department was funded and how certain things will be paid for)