With Health Care For 9 Million Children On The Line, Congress Barrels Toward Shutdown

The New York Times: House Passes Short-Term Spending Bill, Setting Up Shutdown Battle In Senate
The House approved a stopgap spending bill on Thursday night to keep the government open past Friday, but Senate Democrats — angered by President Trump’s vulgar aspersions and a lack of progress on a broader budget and immigration deal — appeared ready to block the measure. The House approved the measure 230 to 197, despite conflicting signals by President Trump sent throughout the day and a threatened rebellion from conservatives that ended up fizzling. (Kaplan and Stolberg, 1/18)

The Associated Press: Congress Likely Racing Toward A Government Shutdown
A bitterly-divided Congress hurtled toward a government shutdown this weekend in a partisan stare-down over demands by Democrats for a solution on politically fraught legislation to protect about 700,000 younger immigrants from being deported. Democrats in the Senate have served notice they will filibuster a four-week, government-wide funding bill that passed the House Thursday evening, seeking to shape a subsequent measure but exposing themselves to charges they are responsible for a looming shutdown. (1/19)

The Washington Post: House Approves Bill To Keep Government Open As Senate Democrats Take Heat For Threatening To Block It
Senate GOP leaders prepared to force Democrats into a series of uncomfortable votes, aimed at splitting their ranks by pitting moderates from states that Trump won against party leaders and the handful of outspoken liberals considering a run for the presidency. For one, Republicans attached a long-term extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program and delays to several unpopular health-care taxes. The bill does not include protections for “dreamers,” immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children or who overstayed their visas as children, a top Democratic priority. (DeBonis, O'Keefe and Werner, 1/18)

The Hill: Trump Baffles GOP With Tweet Scrambling Shutdown Talks 
President Trump undermined his own party’s plan to avert a looming government shutdown on Thursday after tweeting that a key Democratic bargaining chip shouldn’t be attached to the funding package. The 17-word tweet threw Capitol Hill into a state of confusion ahead of what is already expected to be a tight vote in the House on Thursday night. Republicans on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue were trying to decipher what exactly the president meant by declaring that a popular children’s health-care program should be part of a “long term solution, not a 30 Day, or short term, extension.” (Wong and Zanona, 1/18)

The Washington Post: How CHIP Will Be Affected If The Government Shuts Down
If Congress fails to reach a deal to avert a government shutdown at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, federal workers won't be the only ones worrying. Parents of the 9 million children insured through the Children's Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP, are panicking because funding for the program has nearly run out. Republicans in Congress thought they had a grand solution: They pitched Democrats a deal to do a one-month extension of overall government funding and a six-year extension of CHIP money. But President Trump tweeted Thursday morning that was a bad idea. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) says he spoke with Trump and the president is now on board, but confusion abounds in the Capitol. (Long, 1/18)

The Associated Press: Government Scientists Scramble To Save Research Ahead Of Shutdown That Could Ruin Studies
The nation's premier medical research institute is in "a scramble" to prepare for a partial government shutdown that could ruin costly experiments and leave sick patients unable to enter cutting-edge studies, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said Thursday. Fauci stressed that patients currently in NIH-run studies — including those at the research-only hospital often called the "house of hope" — wouldn't be adversely affected even if President Donald Trump and Congress don't reach a budget deal to avert a shutdown at midnight Friday. (Neergaard, 1/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Much Of The Federal Government Wouldn’t Shut Down In A Government Shutdown
If the federal government shuts down at midnight Friday, much of its work will continue, according to carefully laid plans that have become a familiar part of agency life amid regular political brinkmanship. ... The planned Women’s March on the National Mall should be able to go ahead, as the National Park Service says it has special provisions for first amendment activities that require crowd control. (Radnofsky, 1/19)

Kaiser Health News: Podcast: What The Health? Our First Live Show: What The Health Will Happen In 2018?
Congress is at the precipice of shutting down the government, unless lawmakers can quickly agree on another short-term spending bill. And this time, the Children’s Health Insurance Program is caught in the crosshairs. Republicans are offering six years of funding for CHIP as an enticement for Democratic votes on the spending bill, but Democrats are still balking because they want the bill to include protections for undocumented individuals brought to the U.S. by their parents when they were children. (1/18)

The Washington Post: Looming Shutdown Raises Fundamental Question: Can GOP Govern?
The federal government late Thursday faced increasing odds of a partial shutdown, the culmination of a long period of budget warfare that has now imperiled what most lawmakers agree is the most basic task of governance. The immediate challenge Thursday was a refusal by Senate Democrats to join with Republicans in passing legislation that would keep the government open for 30 more days while legislators continued to negotiate a longer-term solution. But the impasse raised deeper questions about the GOP’s capacity — one year into the Trump administration — to govern. (Paletta and Werner, 1/18)

The CT Mirror: Shutdown Impact On CT Would Depend On How Long It Lasts
The U.S. House approved a short-term spending bill late Thursday, but the legislation that would avert a government shutdown is expected to face a tough time in the Senate. That means the federal government could shut down just after midnight Friday. The impact of that shutdown on Connecticut would depend on how long lawmakers fight over the budget. (Radelat, 1/18)

Meanwhile, Dreamers watch the debate unfold anxiously —

Houston Chronicle: Houston Dreamers In Health Care Despair About DACA Debate 
At stake are more than 124,300 young immigrants in Texas, the state with the most Dreamers after California. Across the nation, such enrollees contribute a net $3.4 billion to the U.S. Treasury annually, according to a study this month by the American Action Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. In Houston, some of their biggest contributions are at Methodist, which employs 57 Dreamers throughout the system in positions from lab technicians and nurses to pharmacists. (Ackerman, 1/18)