Less than 48 hours ago, Ed reported that the bloated omnibus spending bill was coming together in the Senate and it appeared that we were on our way to avoiding a partial government shutdown prior to tomorrow’s deadline, along with hundreds of billions in additional debt. But as an old saying reminds us, there’s many a slip between the cup and the lip. Some of those “slips” showed up last night. Lawmakers had gone into various committee meetings to put what they thought were the finishing touches on the spending package. As Ed put it, leaders from both parties felt that bill would “almost certainly” pass. But the tone has taken a decidedly downward turn this morning, with Senator Chris Coons saying that the bill is “hanging by a thread.” (Associated Press)

Momentum toward passing a $1.7 trillion government funding bill with more aid for Ukraine slowed considerably Wednesday as lawmakers struggled to reach an agreement on amendments needed to get to a final vote and avoid a partial government shutdown at midnight Friday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the Senate was making progress, but lawmakers exited the chamber late in the evening looking glum and talking of a standoff.

“This bill is hanging by a thread,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.

The latest roadblock standing in the way of keeping the lights on showed up (as usual) during the fight over various last-minute amendments that were proposed. But it wasn’t anything to do with the funding for Ukraine or the endless pieces of pork attached to the 4,000-page proposal. Instead, it involves the Biden border crisis and the looming threat of Title 42 being lifted. Senate Republicans want the bill to further extend the provision legislatively, but Chuck Schumer is balking at the idea.

Why would Schumer risk tanking the bill to avoid extending Title 42? Mitt Romney (of all people) had a theory about that. He said that Chuck Schumer “doesn’t want to have a vote on Title 42 because he presumably knows it will pass.” But Democrats in the House won’t agree to it and then “everything falls apart.”

I’m rather surprised that this is the hill the House Democrats might choose to die on. The Biden border crisis has grown to such disastrous levels that even CNN and the New York Times are reporting on it now. (Not that you heard a peep out of them before the election was over.) And as we’ve heard repeatedly, “every town is a border town now,” as illegal migrants are bussed or flown to cities all over the country.

It’s true that extending Title 42 is a completely hypocritical move that might make some legislators uncomfortable. The policy was based entirely on the proposition that blocking the immediate entry of illegal migrants might reduce the spread of COVID. But now, even Joe Biden has declared the pandemic to be “over,” so that excuse just doesn’t hold water anymore. And yet, what else is Congress supposed to do? We’re not going to have time to secure the border that quickly even if the will existed among the Democrats to do so. (Spoiler alert: it doesn’t.) Title 42 is the only tool available at the moment to prevent the flood of immigrants in El Paso (for example) from expanding to as many as 14,000 per day. And the House Democrats are okay with being the reason that happens?

But perhaps we shouldn’t moan too much if the omnibus bill fails. We’ve survived temporary shutdowns before and most of the members and their staffers were probably going to be going home for the holidays anyway. And the GOP would have a chance to exert some influence on the spending package if they wait until their new majority is seated in the House. Plus, we might avoid some of the truly offensive garbage that’s currently included in the bill. We’ll close with an observation on all of this pork offered by Andy Biggs, the congressman hoping to be the next Speaker.

The Democrats' reckless omnibus bill spends YOUR money on a "Michelle Obama Trail," a "Ukraine Independence Park" in DC, and a "Speaker Pelosi Federal Building" in San Francisco.

Are you ok with all of this?

— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) December 20, 2022

No, congressman. I’m sure that many of us are not okay with that at all.