Congress returns to familiar threat: Trump's demand for wall money or shutdown
Congress will return Tuesday facing a familiar threat: President Trump’s demand for billions of dollars for his U.S.-Mexico border wall with the risk of a government shutdown if he doesn’t get it.
The lame-duck session gives the outgoing House Republican majority one final test of governing before Democrats take over in January and leave Trump with a weakened hand in pushing his priorities on Capitol Hill, even though the GOP still has a grip on the Senate.
But Republicans determined to deliver for Trump face the intractable issue of immigration as well as Democrats emboldened by the midterm election, as their expected House majority continues to grow to a dozen seats or more as votes are counted. Senate races in Arizona and Florida remain too close to call.
That has Democrats ready to resist the president’s demand for border money, now expected to be a minimum of $5 billion for the fiscal year.
“If it’s wall or nothing, they’re going to get nothing,” Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Monday during a conference call with reporters.
Before breaking for the election, Congress funded 75 percent of the federal government, including the Pentagon, through Sept. 30. But the portion left undone includes the Department of Homeland Security, whose budget pays for border infrastructure.
That money will run out Dec. 7, raising the specter of a partial government shutdown if Congress and Trump can’t reach an agreement in the 12 legislative days before the deadline.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/congress-returns-to-familiar-threat-trumps-demand-for-wall-money-or-shutdown/ar-BBPD2TL?li=BBnb7Kz
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Can't republicans get enough votes on their own? 
