'Setback' for GOP leadership as next government shutdown looms large

It's been only a few weeks, and there might be another government shutdown on the horizon.

MS NOW reporter Jack Fitzpatrick cautioned that both Republicans and Democrats appear to be fighting again over government funding.

Progress was made on some spending packages before the holiday break, but it has stalled since then.

Republican Sen. John Kennedy, of Louisiana, complained that the GOP-led Senate has "lost a lot of time." That said, the officials only just came back from a 43-day shutdown. While many Senators worked during that time, the House didn't meet.

“We can’t negotiate over the holidays. I mean, we can, but it’s like playacting. This is a setback," Kennedy complained.

Another fight is between President Donald Trump and the state of Colorado.

Trump is furious with Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, who won't pardon one of Trump's friends, Tina Peters, who is in prison in the state. She was convicted on state charges of tampering with voting machines to obtain election software so MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell could use it as evidence to falsly claim the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

The Colorado senators, Democrats Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, want funding for the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s budget, but the White House is against it.

“All we’re trying to do is protect the budget that was already there,” Hickenlooper told MS NOW. “So whatever disagreement there is between the state — the governor of Colorado — and the president of the United States, that shouldn’t affect a scientific institution.”

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) promised that it wasn't the fault of the GOP Senate.

“People say we’re waiting on us, but we’re not. We’re waiting on them," he insisted.

The budget will continue to fund the government, except the climate research institute, which the White House wants to see slashed. The offices are housed in Boulder, Colorado. Among the things they study are more powerful hurricanes, deeper droughts and more intense wildfires, their website said.

There are five funding bills left for the Senate to approve. They include the funding for the Departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.

The proposal for the Homeland Security funding from the GOP drew pushback from Democrats.

“I can’t put my name on a bill that condones the way in which they have been stealing money, refusing to spend money and using existing dollars to operate illegally,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).

Read the full report here.