A Thursday night deadline looms for US lawmakers to pass a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.
After furtive negotiations congressional leaders have agreed a trillion-dollar plan that will keep most departments open until September except for Homeland Security.
Democrat rank and file like Senator Joe Manchin aren’t happy:
“I think we ought to stay right here and work through a total tax reform, we’ve been talking about it for quite some time. It’s just time to do it. So, I cannot probably support or give a vote for this for that reason.”
Immigration, Obama’s pet project, comes under Homeland Security which is only funded until February. It means Republicans are keeping their powder dry, waiting until next year to take on the president.
Political analysts in Washington don’t see this moment as the start of a new era of reconciliation and compromise:
“The Republicans want to look like leaders. They want to look like they can get things done in Washington. And the president, he is a lame-duck president. Some say he’s a cooked-goose president. But the fact is, he has a legacy to preserve, and he wants to make sure that some of the things that he came into Washington to do, like his health care proposal, immigration reform, and other social progressive things that he wanted to do will be there,” said analyst Jon-Christopher Bua.
“A last-minute drama with a funding bill has almost become a Christmas tradition in Washington. But it’s an uneasy truce that will only set the stage for a prolonged confrontation with President Obama next year,”
concludes euronews’ correspondent in Washington Stefan Grobe.
