By Nick Baum
FRIDAY – 12/21/18
Last night, the House of Representatives voted 217 to 185 to pass a government funding bill that would allocate $5.7 billion to the border wall between Mexico and the United States. The somewhat large Republican majority was able to pass it with ease, but as the bill goes to the Senate, where a Republican majority is just 51 – 49, every vote will count.
Not only does the bill need a majority though, but it would also need to pass by 60 votes in the Senate, meaning that it is much likelier that there will be a partial government shutdown than a border wall funding bill, as President Trump said he won’t enact any Senate funding bills that don’t pay for the border wall.
However, if the bill does not pass there will only be a partial government shutdown, where only 9 of the 15 cabinet departments close down, and only some areas of government stop working. If there is a shutdown, then it will happen by midnight of today.
Sources and Pictures: Wikimedia Commons, Fox News, CNN