Background context: DACA was an immigration policy set forth by President Obama which allowed individuals who entered the U.S. illegally as minors to be eligible for a work permit as well as a two year period of deferred action from deportation (essentially, they could delay deportation for two years). DACA was rescinded by Trump in September of 2017 with March 5 being the end date for DACA.
Government shutdown seems to be looming on the horizon for Donald Trump and Congress with a compromise for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) sorely in need. With the end date for DACA quickly approaching, Democrats as well as ex-Homeland Security secretaries are urging Congress to pass a deal on DACA this month so that applications for DACA can begin being processed. However, it seems extremely unlikely that a deal on DACA can be made soon due to the current lack of trust between the opposing sides. Following Trump's comment about "shithole countries" (or "shithouse" depending on who you ask), hope for a deal seems to be at an all time low. This is not the first time that a government shutdown has almost occurred during the Trump administration. A shutdown almost occurred in December of 2017, but was narrowly avoided due to a stopgap bill being passed by Congress to keep the government funded through December into January.
Personally, I do not believe a government shutdown would happen due to the danger it would pose to the Republicans. During and after the government shutdown of 2013, a majority of the public blamed the Republicans for the shutdown. With a midterm election approaching, the Republicans cannot afford to be seen in any sort of negative light, or they would risk losing important seats in Congress to the Democrats.
1. Is Trump's "shithole" comment alone a justifiable reason for the Democrats to refuse compromise, or is it just an excuse to not let Congress get a more favorable deal?
2. Do you think the government will actually shutdown or do you think the two opposing sides will actually compromise? If the government were to shutdown, what do you think the public opinion would be?
Source: NBC (Includes a timeline of the DACA standoff)
3 comments:
CNN has been covering this potential government shut down with a strong position of support for DACA, while Fox News seems to be more concerned with covering up for Trump and his "shit hole" comment. I think the polarization between these two media broadcast stations is enough to demonstrate the lack of compromise that can occur before Friday. I don't think the Democrats are wrong in pursuing this, because I personally disapprove of Trump's decision to rescind DACA. Moreover, from a political point of view, the Democrats are using what power they have to try and make a difference in congress, and I don't see a flaw there. I can only hope that a Government shut down does not occur, because it will effect much more than just the Republican party.
I think that not allowing compromise based on one quote only is not reasonable. The democrats have a large support from minorities, meaning that DACA is very important for the democrats. Thus, I believe that the democrats are not compromising because of this huge support from minorities. Nowadays, the republicans and democrats are well known to hate compromise, and this is just one example of many times where compromise was rejected.
Concerning the government shutdown, it is very possible this could happen if the federal budget is not agreed upon. Though republicans do make the majority of Congress, there are still a decent amount of democrats who can block the budget process. But I think that the major problem is Donald Trump. He will want his way with the budget and can definitely be an obstacle for the passing of the federal budget. Recently, there was a tweet by Trump which made it seem that he wanted a government shutdown, but the GOP does not want one. Altogether, I am very unsure if there will be a government shutdown. If there ever was one though, the GOP's public support would decrease due to its inability to reign in the situation. The public would definitely be more inclined to support the democrats as seen by the GOP's unsatisfactory decisions over the past few years.
I think that Trump’s latest comments are not any sign of change, but in fact a continuation of his personality. As terrible as his comments were, I would argue that very few were actually surprised that Trump said them. It would be great if the government were to find a place of compromising, but the growing theme of polarity makes a solution seem ever distant. If a shutdown were to occur, it seems that there would only be more dissatisfaction with Trump and the Republican party in general. The administration received little praise for their actions insofar, and they will most definitely receive the blame for a government shutdown. This opposition to Trump will bleed over to the Republican party, weakening them as a whole.
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