This past week, congressional leaders moved forward to finally end the longest government shutdown in American history.
You may ask what has been gained by holding out on the salaries of so many federal employees over this time. The answer is absolutely nothing.
Democrats held out in allowing funding of the Department of Homeland Security, demanding that reforms be made to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including the banning of masks, a requirement of judicial rather than administrative warrants for pursuing illegal aliens, and mandating badges for ICE officers.
They will receive none of those changes as a result of their holdout.
They can claim a victory in that they forced Republicans to vote for a continuation of funding for Homeland Security without additional money going to ICE in that package, but they have set a dangerous precedent that will one day come back to haunt them, just as their setting the precedent to end the filibuster on judicial appointments came back to bite them when Republicans used that method to usher in President Trump’s SCOTUS nominees on a pure majority vote.
There will come a time down the road when Republicans are in the minority and will refuse to continue appropriations for a continuation of government and will instead hold out on individual line items until their demands are met.
It will just mean more gridlock going into the future.
Republicans will now fund ICE into the future by going through the reconciliation process, which requires a mere majority vote, as opposed to 60 votes required in the Senate to break the filibuster.
As the old saying goes: Be careful what you wish for…