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Five issues that could derail a spending deal | TheHill

posted onDecember 11, 2017
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Article snippet: Congress punted its funding fight for another two weeks, setting up a contentious spending showdown just days before Christmas.  Lawmakers passed a stopgap bill on Thursday to avoid a shutdown and keep the government’s lights on through Dec. 22. But members acknowledge that the real budget brawl — and the threat of a shutdown — will come later this month. The funding fight will likely center on two major issues. Democrats want protections for young immigrants brought illegally to the country as children, while the GOP wants a funding boost for defense. But there are a host of other year-end funding priorities that both parties will also be scrambling to address before they leave town, in addition to negotiating a final tax bill that Republicans hope to send to MORE’s desk by Christmas. Here are five sticky issues that are threatening to complicate year-end spending talks. Immigration Trump announced earlier this year that he was ending the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which grants work permits to undocumented young immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children.  Congress has just a few months left to save the program or come up with a new solution, with DACA recipients set to lose their status beginning in early March. They view the must-pass spending bills as their best shot at getting a DACA solution over the finish line.  “We will not leave here without a DACA fix,” Pelosi vowed Thursday.  But conservatives have put... Link to the full article to read more

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