No Shutdown, Trump Leads Republicans, Vivek and Asa Drop Out
Welcome back to Politics Explained! If you’re new, we release short and concise blogs every Friday that recap the happenings of Capitol Hill. This week, we’ll cover how a government shutdown was averted, the results of the Iowa caucuses, and Vivek Ramswamy and Asa Hutchinson dropping out of the race. There’s a good amount to cover from this past week so let’s get started.
A bill to continue funding government agencies has been passed by Congress, allowing for a government shutdown to be averted. Hours after the Senate passed along this bill with incredible unity (the vote was 77-18), the Democrats of the House carried the approval of the funding with a vote of 314-108. Zooming into the Republican votes in the House, 107 backed it, while 106 opposed. This narrow passing within the party is because of the strong opposition from far-right Republicans, as they press on towards more spending cuts and securing the U.S.-Mexico border. However, Speaker Johnson warned his fellow party members that a shutdown could lead to backlash against Republicans in this election-year. Centering our focus back on the bill, under it is funding for agriculture, veterans programs, transportation, housing, and other federal operations which will be maintained through March 1. Funding for the rest of the government is set to expire on March 8. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have six weeks to pass 12 spending bills to fund the government through the fall. As this is the third time spending has been temporarily extended since the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, there must be compromise. However, this is much easier said than done, as far-right Republicans demand things that Democrats say that won’t accept. Stay tuned to follow the developments as Congress continues to struggle to cooperate.
Former President Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses*. 20 delegates were allocated to Donald Trump, while Ron Desantis received 9, and Nikki Haley received 8. As the Republican nominees prepare for the New Hampshire primary, Trump joined an interview with Sean Hannity and took jabs at Nikki Haley, Desantis hopped on an interview on Fox, and Haley took part in a CNN hosted town hall and took questions from voters. Trump criticized Haley, saying she “has no chance.” Nikki Haley went on to respond, stating that Trump’s just scared of the fact that she does, in fact, have a chance. This is still just the beginning of the fight between Trump, Haley, and Desantis, so stay tuned for more on the upcoming New Hampshire primary!
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, two Republican presidential candidates, have dropped out of the race. After disappointing performances in the Iowa caucuses, both have decided to throw in the towel. Vivek ended up receiving 8% of votes, while Asa received 0.2%. However, Vivek’s poor performance may sting a little extra, as he visited all 99 counties of Iowa TWICE. Don’t count him out yet, because although Vivek is out of the Presidential race, his support for Trump has proven to be the seed of future collaboration. Now that he’s no longer a threat, Trump has only good things to say about Vivek. In fact, after the crowd chanted “VP, VP, VP” for Vivek, Trump stated, “He's going to be working with us for a long time." Could we be looking at a Trump-Ramaswamy duo in the future? Stay tuned for more developments!
*Definition of the Week (Caucus): meetings run by political parties in order to choose candidates and the distribution of delegates.
