CRUCIAL WEEK IN CONGRESS: Members of Congress returning from the long Thanksgiving weekend are getting close to crunch time as funding for the government expires Dec. 8, a week from Friday. Leaders of both parties are scheduled to meet with President Trump tomorrow to try to reach some sort of consensus on how to set spending levels and either remove or loosen the fiscal straitjacket known as sequestration.
“There shouldn’t be any discussion about shutting down the government. We can make this thing work. We just need to get people at the table, negotiate it,” said Republican Sen. John Thune on Fox News Sunday. “I think the president’s bringing the leadership in the House and the Senate to his office later this week to do that.” While not ruling out a short-term extension to the continuing resolution that expires next month, Thune said, “Ultimately, we need to do a bill that funds the government through the end of the next fiscal year and that addresses the important priorities that we need to address.”
