The shutdown is over, but the gridlock in Congress is just beginning
by Susan Ferrechio
| January 30, 2019 12:00 AM
The end of the long government shutdown cleared the way for the House and Senate to begin advancing big legislative priorities, but now, lawmakers are facing the unavoidable gridlock that comes with divided government.
The stalemate began Tuesday, when the GOP-led Senate and the Democratic-run House rejected each other's top legislative priorities for the new year.
House Democratic leaders struck first, announcing they would not take up S. 1, a pro-Israel, Middle East security bill that Republicans in the Senate deem critical, and which they plan to pass as soon as this week.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters the measure would be referred to committee, not to the House floor for consideration. Hoyer said he does not back a key component of the legislation aimed at allowing states to ban business with the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, or BDS.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/the-shutdown-is-over-but-the-gridlock-in-congress-is-just-beginning
