The Next Government Shutdown Is Going To Be About Immigration

Dueling pronouncements by the leaders of the House and Senate Wednesday showed how Congress could be sleepwalking into a partial government shutdown later this month.

At a much-hyped appearance at the Texas border with Mexico, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said House Republicans wanted their entire immigration restriction bill passed, even as, back in Washington, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Senate majority leader, said that wasn’t going to happen.

As the leaders’ first public remarks in the new year, they highlighted another emerging round of political chicken after Congress avoided possible shutdowns in October and November. In October, Democrats were willing to jettison needed military aid for Ukraine for a temporary funding bill, while in November, House Republicans coming off a bruising intraparty fight over who should be speaker, let Democrats carry a bill to fund the government.