The White House has signed off on the omnibus spending bill which has not yet been released to the public, or all members of Congress. That makes it likelier that a government shutdown will be averted this weekend, but it's always possible when Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is around and playing coy about whether he'll give his consent to bring the bill directly to the floor or not. As of now, the House is planning a Thursday vote, which—barring Paul grandstanding—could mean that a one- or two-day continuing resolution to allow them to wrap up over the weekend won't be necessary.
There are a few positive surprises in it, including expanded background checks for gun purchases. The bill includes the bipartisan Fix NICS (National Instant Criminal Background System) Act, which doesn't do a ton, but does require states to add updates more frequently to the current criminal database. That's been included without the poison pill Republicans were demanding, a national concealed carry reciprocity. That's made House conservatives "furious," according to Politico. "What we were told by our leadership is directly opposite what is happening today," Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said during a roundtable with reporters Wednesday.
They've also found a way around Trump's promise to veto anything that included funding for the Gateway project linking New York and New Jersey. They're including "increases for other federal transportation accounts, including Amtrak, that will allow tunnel construction to begin." Maybe they didn't tell him that part when he asked if they funded the tunnel project. That, too, has the Freedom maniacs whining, because they—and Trump—didn't get their border wall.
"It’s troubling that we get a tunnel but we don’t get a wall," House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said, noting the border wall funding had previously been appropriated. "The last time I checked, the president didn’t make any promises about getting a tunnel at any of his campaign stops."
While there isn't wall funding or funding for more ICE agents, there is some funding for beefing up existing security at the border. However, there is no resolution to the crisis for Dreamers, the young people who had been covered by President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals order. Whether there will be enough political pressure on Congress to address the problem before November remains to be seen. Its exclusion from this deal makes it unlikely, however, that there will be a legislative fix.
Also excluded was Obamacare stabilization language, since Republicans refused to let go of their insistence that it must include a provision that would make it essentially impossible for any insurance company in the market to provide abortion coverage. The exclusion of these market fixes are a mixed bag, since they could have had a boomerang effect of raising costs for moderate-income subscribers. It does mean that Republicans facing re-election in November will see headlines in October, screaming about premium hikes. That's not good for them.
Surprisingly, Speaker Paul Ryan backed down on his opposition to a narrow tax law fix that he was against because it helped poor people. They apparently came to an agreement to fix the "grain glitch" in the Republican's tax law in exchange for a temporary boost in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.
The bill also does not include a provision Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer pushed to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller if he's fired by Trump. It does include some funding for states to secure their election systems and to the FBI for combatting Russian cyber attacks.
Ryan is clearly counting on Democratic votes to pass the bill, and with the worst of the gun and abortion stuff out of it, he'll get them. Likewise, McConnell will have them in the Senate. So, once again, Rand Paul is the outstanding problem for passage.