A Budget, or Not?

For John, BLUF:  I wonder if President Trump is a President who can force a shutdown and get away with it?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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As lawmakers return to work, shutdown fears loom

From Defense News, by Reporters Leo Shane III and Joe Gould, 3 September 2018.

Here is the lede plus three:

In four weeks, lawmakers could be heading into the midterm elections with a newly adopted federal budget and a sense of pride for finishing their work on time.

Or they could be heading home with a short-term budget extension and a lot of angry voicemails from Pentagon leaders complaining about their long-term budget plans.

Or they could be stuck in town dealing with a partial government shutdown, a potential political disaster as voters head to the polls.

Given the stakes, the appropriations issue will dominate Congress’ September session.  Party leaders have said in recent days they are cautiously optimistic that they can finish a substantial portion of the work by the Sept. 30 deadline.

I am old enough to remember when the US Federal Budget ran from 1 July to 30 June.  Because the Budget tended to be late, Congress changed the Budget period to 1 October to 30 September.  It was a solution with its own problems.  Budgets are still late, but now there is the (possibly perverse) pressure of elections for Federal Office.

Not every change is for the better  And I caution against going for 1 January, which means the outgoing Congress could just kick it down the road a couple of days to the incoming Congress a few days later.

Regards  —  Cliff