President Donald Trump laid out an epic vision of his presidency on Tuesday night. His goals are broad, and his first 45 days of impact have already beaten all presidents since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. However, one shadow loomed over the entire evening. The March 14th deadline is to fund his administration.
It's easy to be distracted by all the action that has been taking place in Washington for the past six weeks, but this single issue is more important than the rest for this White House future. As one senior Westwing staff member told The Beltway Brief, “Fundraising President Trump's government is important. It's absolutely essential.”
Details and tactics aside, funding is a battle, and the most challenging test of Congressional Republican unification (and democratic resistance) that this administration still faces.
Many obstacles get in the way of that fund. First: House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) can't lose one vote after Rep. Thomas Massey (r-ky.), who says he's already “no.” The problem is further complicated by Johnson's horrifying habit of saying “yes” to everyone who wants something. He can't actually get everyone what they want, so the end result is that he's in the habit of carving multiple parties in the final stretch of a major deal.
Johnson then has to compete with conservatives who are upset about President Joe Biden's funding level and want to codify doge cuts. Moderates want some goals to sweeten the pot. And doge itself has been able to have problems with all the purposes of Elon Musk making moderates happy.
Second, majority leader John Tune (Rs.D.) must attract seven Democrats to reach the 60 vote threshold where he needs to pass on the ongoing resolution. The reality is much more difficult.
It is important to remember that continuous resolutions are essentially Democrats and a considerable number of Republicans almost always vote for them.
In the past, 30 Republicans have seen the vote on the ongoing resolution. Traditionally, they are carried by Democrats. Thune, for example, is unlikely to get a vote from a Kentucky Republican senator. There are also difficult fights for Republicans like Mike Lee (Utah), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Ron Johnson (Wisconsin). So, what?
Many attacks of conservative appeal are considerable in the office of Russ Vought, an influential DC conservative executive and budget director with long-established credits with the GOP's fiscal Hawks. Blaze News' Rebeka Zeljko defeated the news that she personally met House Freedom Caucus on Monday night on Tuesday. Both meetings worked well and portended the House's ability to pass the bill.
“Vought scored several points on members of the room. We noted that the impressive momentum of the Trump administration was curtailed by a sudden government shutdown,” Zeljko reported. “And if you pass a clean CR, Republicans can pass a pork-filled omnibus bill that avoids negotiations with Democrats.”
“The rebellion requires momentum to stay alive,” a source familiar with the argument told Blaze News.
Additionally, Vought is either a supporter of the “reservoir” voice, or leaves a portion of the money the White House has allocated by Congress in the Treasury Department. This power was used by the President from Thomas Jefferson through Richard Nixon when Congress passed laws on practices. He was burned into the subject during the confirmation process, but Vought never retreated his attitude that the law was unconstitutional and that he would not survive the proper challenge in the Supreme Court.
Thune has one card. Modern Democrats hate shutting down governments. That is, if he can continuously keep out conservative additions (such as Doge) from continuing resolutions, he will have the opportunity to vote.
Again, Democrats are also hungry for victory over the momentum of the administration. Democrats from Down On Down's leadership are furious at Musk's Doge Cuts and are hungry for the first time in decades. If Tuesday night antics are any indication, that hunger can lead to closure very well. (It's hard to see how it helps more than the protest they panned widely.)
Details and tactics aside, funding is a battle, and the most challenging test of Congressional Republican unification (and democratic resistance) that this administration still faces.
“People are worried about funding [Joe] Biden's priorities,” a senior White House staff member told Beltway Brief: “But this is not his government. It's President Trump. These are his priorities.”
And how many Republicans are willing to close it?
The problem may be Democrats' tolerance for the pain caused by closure. When World War II veterans are prevented from visiting their memorial and the fountain handle is removed from the national park, it won't be like President Barack Obama.
This time, the Trump White House can decide what is essential and what isn't. It's hard to say you're fighting the Doj by forcing you to choose and choose what's funded by the President.
because of your vote. However, it is difficult to tell how unstable the protesters are after the antics of Tuesday's speech.
Flame News: Las Vault meets House Freedom Caucus, stops supporting a clean CR, and Trump follows
Flame News: Senate Republicans identify tools the White House can use to lock down spending cuts, but there's a catch
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