<p>The Senate has just voted 81-18 to end debate on government funding, a procedural measure that clears the way to re-open the federal government.</p>
<p>New York Senator Chuck Schumer has announced an agreement with Mitch McConnell to end the government shut down for about 3 weeks, in exchange for an immigration bill to protect the 800,000 DACA recipients. Schumer had been previously been in negotiations with the President and Congress to protect the 800,000 &#8220;DACA children&#8221;, illegal immigrants brought to America as children and raised here having known no other country as home.</p>
<p>Government agencies and services not deemed &#8220;critical&#8221; have implemented their shut down plan, and their employees are staying home. ; In every government case in history, Congress has later approved paying them retroactively.</p>
<p>This morning, Trump has placed the blame squarely on Senator Chuck Schumer and the Democrats, labeling this the &#8220;Schumer Shutdown.&#8221; ; &#8220;Democrats have shut down our government in the interests of their far left base. They don&rsquo;t want to do it but are powerless!&#8221; he tweeted.</p>
<p>This is not the end, though. In three weeks, we may see yet another shutdown. ;</p>
<p><strong>Author&#8217;s note:</strong> Schumer has done a number of things for the Democrats with this maneuver. First, he has taken the focus away from President Trump&#8217;s accomplishments in his first year, which include a booming economy, progress with North Korea and much more. ; ;</p>
<p>Second, he has put the Democrats in the position of saying they fought for the DACA children. Even though, <a href="https://punchingbagpost.com/trump-links-the-border-wall-to-daca-immigrants/" target="_blank";" rel="noopener"><strong>as we have said previously</strong></a>, the deal has been pretty much done, this helps to win the propaganda battle for the Democrats, maintaining the illusion that these people were about to be kicked out. ;</p>