Trump Tackles Health Care Bill

After advocating for a future shutdown on Twitter, he hailed the budget agreement as a boost for the military and border security. “We know that”, he said.

KEITH: This was the single largest win for Republicans in the bill even though the defense spending increase isn’t almost as large as the president had wanted.

Missouri’s U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, a fellow Republican, said he understood Trump’s frustration with the Senate requirement for 60 votes to pass legislation, but cautioned against rushing to blow up the long standing rule.

The Republican bill, known formally as the American Health Care Act, aims to repeal most Obamacare taxes, including a penalty for not buying health insurance.

MULVANEY: That’s a good discussion to have in September.

According to the Hill, several media accounts have suggested that Trump and the White House were losers in the negotiations over the deal.

But the presidential tweets displayed a contradictory message on the budget deal.

The House easily passed a $1.1 trillion government wide spending bill on Wednesday, awarding wins to both Democrats and Republicans while putting off until later this year fights over President Donald Trump’s promised border wall with Mexico and massive military buildup.

Senator Michael Bennett (D, Colorado) reminded his followers that the last government shutdown lead to workers sent home without pay and labs were closed.

House Speaker Paul Ryan praised the measure as bipartisan, and said the biggest gain for conservatives came as Democrats dropped longstanding demands to match Pentagon increases with equal hikes for nondefense programs.

President Donald Trump, after failing to win congressional approval for many of his spending and policy priorities for the next five months, said Tuesday the government “needs a good “shutdown” in September” when lawmakers will be debating the 2018 funding plan.

In the 1,665-page bill, Trump did secure a military spending increase of 15 percent, though it is less than he expected.

Senate Republicans recently triggered the “nuclear option” to eliminate the 60-vote filibuster threshold for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Mulvaney say that he’s “not anxious about September” right now.

Earlier, Trump had called for a “good shutdown” in September to fix the “mess” in the Senate.

Mulvaney contended that a “good” shutdown – as Trump described – would be one that “fixes” Washington.

“I think the President ought to be taking a victory lap and saying he played a role in getting a great deal instead of the (Office of Management and Budget) director wagging his finger and saying we were lusting after a shutdown”, he added.

One senior administration official said Trump was “not happy” as he watched Democrats claim victory in the budget negotiations, and a second senior administration official said Trump was baffled that Democrats felt they could claim victory.

Previous government shutdowns have cost the United States economy tens of billions of dollars and seen government services grind to a halt as thousands of non-essential personnel are temporarily laid off.

Republicans last forced a government closure in 2013 for 17 days. That included lost revenue for the national parks.