Busy with airstrikes in Syria, the US government forgot it was running out of money?

The surprise airstrike on Syria has made the US government the center of the world, forgetting the risk of being shut down at any time.

US bipartisanship determined to keep the White House "lights on"

According toWashington Post, in contrast to the time of US President Barack Obama, when the issue of the government budget was always "raised up and down" by both parties and the White House had to shut down, under Mr. Trump, up to this point, no congressman has declared that he will make the White House "turn off the lights".

US President Donald Trump may be able to sign a new budget bill submitted by Congress but will have to agree to make concessions on many key issues to ensure the White House continues to be "lit" until September 2017 and the entire 2018 fiscal year. Photo: Reuters

Instead of arguing fiercely with each other, causing the US government budget issue to reach a dead end like before, both the Democratic and Republican parties are trying to avoid a US government shutdown.

Officials from both parties have said they are in talks to find ways to provide financial support to the US government while avoiding having to pay Mr. Trump to fulfill his commitment to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, which is very expensive.

US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has expressed optimism that Congress will fund the government until at least September 2017.

However, according to Mr. Mitch McConnell, US congressmen will have to pass a budget bill for fiscal year 2018 to ensure the operation of the US Government in the following months.

“No budget bill can pass with just one party,” Mitch McConnell said. “All of these bills will only pass with bipartisan cooperation. The Democratic leader can have his own views, but I believe he sees things the same way we do.”

Republicans continue to have to call on Democrats?

The bipartisan determination to “rescue” the US government shows a major change in the approach of both Democrats and Republicans since the US government had to shut down in 2013 after endless arguments between lawmakers of both parties.

At that time, hard-line Republican lawmakers repeatedly called for drastic spending cuts and a government shutdown. They even said they were ready to let the US default on its debt.

This forced the Speaker of the US House of Representatives to "give in" and ask the Democratic Party to support the vote to raise the federal debt ceiling and provide more money so that the US Government can continue to operate.

Learning from experience, this time, Republican officials proactively "raised the issue" with the Democratic Party from the beginning to avoid unnecessary arguments about the new budget bill.

However, both Republicans and Democrats have expressed concern that passing a budget bill capable of meeting Mr. Trump's ambitious goals such as strengthening defense and building a wall along the US-Mexico border will become "mission impossible".

Although it is unclear to what extent Democrats will support the Republican budget bill, Mitch McConnell said that Democrats fully understand their role in this bill.

“I realize that no one would benefit from another shutdown in September. However, I cannot tell you at this point how we will achieve this goal,” Mitch McConnell said.

All the cards are still in Trump's hands

Previously, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi pledged to work closely with Republicans to quickly pass a budget bill for the US government. However, Pelosi stressed that the “fate” of this bill “is entirely in Mr. Trump’s hands.”

According to Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Trump will most likely refuse to sign the budget bill that the two houses of the US Congress have passed and submitted to the House of Representatives if this bill does not include the amount of money he needs to spend to build a wall along the Mexico-US border as he pledged during his presidential campaign.

“Lawmakers know exactly how they can pass a bill, but White House officials may not. This could lead to a larger disagreement between the White House and Congress on the budget than the Democrats and Republicans on this issue,” Pelosi said.

Therefore, if the budget bill can be passed to keep the US government running until the end of September, Republican lawmakers will have to rack their brains to meet Mr. Trump's increasingly expanding budget demands after that time.

Many Democratic and Republican lawmakers have fiercely criticized Mr. Trump's plan to increase defense spending by $54 billion because the additional money would come directly from budget cuts to other agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the State Department and the Department of Agriculture.

Republican Congressman Mark Sanford said that Trump’s budget demands have put the Republican Party in a “dilemma.” Trump promised voters that he would dramatically increase defense spending while controlling public spending without cutting programs to care for and support the elderly and poor in the United States. This commitment, according to many US congressmen, is “unachievable, at least in terms of numbers.”

“We’re walking into a trap. When we go back to our home states [US lawmakers are scheduled to recess for two weeks-ND], we might see the mayor of North Charleston saying, we can’t cut this money,” Mr. Sanford said. “Don’t forget, he’s a big Trump supporter.”

According to VOV