We Could Be Headed for Another Government Shutdown

Time: “You might have thought the threat of another shutdown was shelved last year when congressional Budget Committee Chairs Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Patty Murray came to a two-year bipartisan deal to fund the government. But the new Republican Congress blew up that deal, and a shutdown could be part of the fallout.”

“Republicans are now attempting to undo controversial cuts to military spending in the 2013 sequester. Democrats are having none of that: if the Pentagon gets its money, they argue, so too should entitlements, as was part of the original deal. Unless Republicans relent on this point, Democrats have vowed to block all 13 appropriations bills from coming to the Senate floor. But even if those bills were to get voted on, odds are they won’t pass since they have dozens of provisions that Democrats object to — and which President Obama has threatened to veto.”