By: Deiah Curtis
And the American government is back at it again, shutting down for the second time in three weeks, but technically, only for 5 hours.
Leaders in Congress had come up with a new deal that would fund the government through March 23 and would also allow them to set up a 2-year-budget plan that would add hundreds of billions of dollars of spending to the U.S. government. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky strongly opposed the proposal and refused to pass the deal causing a halt to the government pressing forward and coming to a decision before the midnight deadline.
The Senate did eventually come to the vote and got passed on to the House around 2 o’clock in the morning. Republicans leaders were now desperately looking for the vote from the Democratic Party, but it seemed unclear whether they’d get the votes.
After three hours of deliberation and debating, the Democratic Party stood firmly on their position to have full assurance that the House would advance legislation concerning the deportation protection. Addressing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) was a top priority for the Democrats, and the Republicans agreed to their demand. The votes were tallied and the bill passed with 240 votes, 167 Republicans and 73 Democrats, and the second government shutdown of 2018 was resolved at 5:30 in the morning.
Although the shutdown [if you can call it a shutdown] was brief, it still has a lasting effect on the certainty that American people hold with their government. Had the government not come to an agreement as quickly as they had, hundreds of thousands of “non-essential” federal workers would have been put on leave and not paid until the government was up and running.
At this time, the United States government is now going ahead with its new plan and budget, but not with a load of disagreements. Although the bill passed with 20 more votes than it needed, it still had 70 Republicans and 120 Democrats against it. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is especially not happy with the bill saying, “You should only spend what comes in. We should balance our ledger.” Sen. Paul strongly disagrees with the government creating an even bigger budget (of over $10 billion), that they should, “be adults,” and learn to spend their money wisely.
Now that the Republicans bill for a multibillion-dollar-add-in budget has been passed, the matter of the DACA program still remains one of the hottest topics in the House. The immigration and deportation laws have been since the first shutdown. Democrats have voted to fund the government again, now hoping new negotiations for DACA can follow. Hopefully the government can have the discussions and come to an understanding before a third shutdown occurs.
