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Government workers have a temporary reprieve from Congress, knowing that they'll be getting paychecks until Dec. 20, probably. House Appropriations Committee Chair Nita Lowey, Democrat of New York, announced Tuesday night that an agreement had been reached with her Senate counterpart Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama, to extend funding at current levels until just before the December recess.
They haven't reached a final agreement yet, the AP reports, because "Trump's demands for up to $8 billion in new funding for his U.S.-Mexico border fence project is largely responsible for an impasse." So that assurance from a senior White House staffer a week ago that Trump was giving up on the wall wasn't true. Shocker!
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer confirmed that there will be a House vote next week to extend funding to Dec. 20, and defended the deadline. "Time is not the issue here. Willingness is the issue here," he said, adding that it really wouldn't make a difference if they extended the deadline into next year.
The December deadline does put added pressure on Republicans, specifically Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. His vulnerable members want absolutely nothing to do with another shutdown. Whether he can make that a compelling argument for an enraged Trump, seething from being impeached, remains to be seen.