The time is gone, the song is over
| EDITOR'S NOTE
Hello,
There isn't much time left for this Congress or President Trump.
Lawmakers face a deadline at the end of this week to pass a new government funding package and avoid a shutdown. But leaders in both parties are primed this week to pass a one-week extension of current funding in a bid to buy some more time for negotiations.
What's at stake? It's not just how the government will be paid for in the foreseeable future. Congress is also working on a new Covid relief package, and lawmakers hope to wrap everything up before millions of Americans lose enhanced unemployment benefits and other financial protections at the end of the year.
Negotiations come as more than 200,000 new cases of coronavirus – and over 2,000 deaths – are reported each day. Businesses big and small face a new demand crunch as governments implement new restrictions and people hunker down for the winter. It's possible that the $908 billion in aid negotiated by bipartisan lawmakers won't be enough, even with vaccines on the way.
That will leave Joe Biden with a big task, one that may involve tangling over new stimulus with Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, when he takes office Jan. 20. Then we will see whether Biden has what it takes to live up to his promise of work well with Republicans.
And then there's Trump. His baseless claims of fraud sound weaker each day. The president's top personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, is hospitalized with Covid. His legal team's challenges of various swing states' election results have failed spectacularly. Trump himself has been rebuffed in his reported attempts to coax Republican leaders in some states to try to overturn the results.
It's as clear now as it was when the race was called for Biden last month. Trump is on his way out. But he will still be president for the next month and a half.
While he has shown little interest in governing as his time in the White House grows shorter, Trump will still have to sign the bills to keep the government open and get more stimulus into the economy. It will be the least he can do.
Thoughts? Email Mike Calia at CNBCPolitics@nbcuni.com.
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