This is the inevitable first step to resolving the standoff, the equivalent of freeing some — but not all — hostages in a standoff. Pelosi’s already begun passing bills that would fund specific agencies, like the IRS, in order to force GOPers to vote no over and over on bringing parts of the government back online. Moderate Republicans in the Senate increasingly are willing to say yes to her offer, though. If they can reduce the pain of the shutdown to the public by getting a few agencies back up and running, why not do that? Granted, siding with Democrats even in a limited way will weaken Trump’s hand, but at some point purple-state Republicans will have more to fear from voters who are angry about paychecks and services being cut off than they will from right-wingers who are angry that they’re not standing firm with Trump. We’re approaching that point.
In interviews with a wide range of Senate Republicans, a number have grown anxious about the long-term impact of a partial shutdown that has shuttered a quarter of the federal government and impacted hundreds of thousands of federal employees and contractors, including many in their states who will soon miss their first paychecks. And some GOP senators are signaling a new willingness to allow a number of key federal agencies — such as the Treasury Department, the Transportation Department and the National Park Service — to reopen even if the fight over the border wall is not resolved, breaking with the White House and Senate GOP leaders. --
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