Russ Vought

The surprising thing is not that the federal government has shut down. It would have been surprising if it did not. Each side thinks it has the cards and that it has put the other in a bad position. The result is that the budget feud could last for months, ending with a temporary armistice that satisfies no one. There is little incentive for either side to shut down the shutdown. Washington Post columnist Paul Kane notes that most Senators have little reason to compromise: “very few senators feel the political pressure that usually comes with calamitous events like a federal agency shutdown. Most sit in safe seats, many with reelection campaigns a distant concern.

Donald Trump doesn’t take office for another week, but the Trump show starts in earnest this week with a confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, followed shortly by Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem, Doug Burgum, Doug Collins and others.While some drama is to be expected, Trump’s current nominees have mostly run the gauntlet unscathed. Not all were so lucky, however. Former congressman Matt Gaetz quickly withdrew his name from consideration to be attorney general once he felt that he no longer had a foreseeable path forward; another Florida man, Hillsborough County sheriff Chad Chronister, withdrew his name from consideration due to concerns from the right about his record during Covid-era lockdowns.

The GOP will take control of the House of Representatives in January. Beyond the current debate over who will lead the party's new majority — will Representative Kevin McCarthy become speaker? — Republicans have to determine which wars to wage with the Democrat-controlled Senate. Chief among these will be budgetary battles. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that it's likely Congress will pass a short-term continuing resolution to fund the government until January, rather than the larger ominous bill floated by Democrats that would last until the end of the fiscal year. This means the newly GOP-controlled House will be thrust into a debate over the federal budget immediately after taking office. Luckily, they don't have to start from scratch.

Former director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought is urging Republicans in Congress to jump ship from legislation that bills itself as the conservative answer to the Equality Act, according to a letter obtained by The Spectator.  ''It purports to be a compromise amidst the culture wars, but it concedes far too much,' Vought, now the president of the Center for American Restoration and its advocacy arm, American Restoration Action, writes. The Fairness for All Act, introduced by Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah, makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity but carves out exemptions for religious institutions. It is meant to find a middle ground between the Democrat-led Equality Act and the conservatives who oppose that bill.