Americans used to be afraid of government shutdowns, and a few still are. 

Ever worried about catching flak, it's almost a given that they bend the knee to Democrats and give them what they want. This is a hangover from the Clinton years when Bill Clinton could look into the camera with his scolding eyes and blame Republicans for every bad thing, and people bought the spin because the Pravda Media kept repeating it. 

Republicans learned a lesson, but the wrong one. What they should have figured out is that the Democrats and the media would attack them no matter what, so they should just go ahead and do what is right. 

Trump was gliding into his inauguration. Now he’s facing a big mess. https://t.co/zQK8eRZb6i

— POLITICO (@politico) December 19, 2024

The Democrats and the media are pulling this trick again, and Congressional Republicans--or at least the establishment ones--are still afraid of looking bad in the eyes of the media, so when the Democrats demanded stupid and harmful measures to be put into the CR, Republican leadership caved. 

Republican voters were assured that Congress wouldn't pass an omnibus bill before Trump took power, but they produced a 1500-page monstrosity that was an omnibus bill in all but name. 

The bill was killed, and now we are supposed to believe this is a crisis that could destroy Trump's honeymoon. Don't believe it. 

Everything was going relatively smoothly for Donald Trump.

Coming off a decisive electoral victory last month, he had appeared to corral his party behind even his most controversial Cabinet picks and was enjoying decent public approval. He promised to create a strong economy. Tech titans and foreign leaders are clamoring to meet with him or fund his inauguration.

Then Wednesday happened.

Two shocks to the system this week have cast Washington into chaos as Republicans scramble to avoid a self-created looming government shutdown and weather a market slide at the peak of the holiday season.

The Fed's worries about the economy indeed signal a problem for Trump for sure, but given that Biden is still president and he will walk into office with a bunch of proposals to jump-start the economy any improvement in 2025 will be seen as a victory for him. Right now Biden owns the economy. 

As for a government shutdown--that is more a media phenomenon than a serious problem for Trump. Again, Biden is president, and the Republicans can do something about shifting the little blame that will be apportioned to where it belongs. 

Pass a disaster relief bill and a clean CR and go home. Disaster relief is a real issue, although a creative president who wanted to do something about hurting people could easily find the money to get to work right now. The CR could be under 25 pages, and if Democrats refuse to pass it, then it is on them. 

The last thing we need is to hamper Trump on Day 1, and this CR would have. Any fear that Americans will side with Biden and Hakeem Jeffries is a fantasy inspired by nightmares based on the 1990s. 

Republicans are weenies, and their current problem isn't that moderate voters are worried about a government shutdown; it's that Republican voters will revolt if they stab us in the back. 

Still, I expect that Trump has the juice to get the Republicans in line. And once the ball is in the Democrats' court, Trump has the ammo to either force them to pass the bills or to make them take the blame for the consequences. 

Trump is not in trouble. The Democrats and RINOs are.