Mark Patricks – As the September deadline approached for the government to find a solution to the rapidly encroaching debt ceiling (the fixed limit permissible for the government to borrow funds to keep itself operating), President Trump found himself confronted with two options.

Senators in his own party, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, wished to make a deal that would have granted aid to victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas by tying the money to a $2 trillion increase in the debt ceiling, with no commitments to any hardline, long-term spending reforms. For President Trump, this meant that his plans for tax reform would have been up in the air, his long-promised wall on the southern border of the U.S. would have to be delayed, and Congress wouldn’t be committed to any more Trump-related agenda items until after the 2018 midterm elections; essentially, the most important policies of his “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) campaign promises would have to be pushed off for 18 months in order to make the deal and get necessary flood aid for victims of Hurricane Harvey. Continue reading →