President Obama Making Final Push for Progressive Agenda

President Obama Making Final Push for Progressive Agenda
Fecha de publicación: 
12 September 2016
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President Obama meets with the top four leaders of Congress today at the White House, where an elusive agreement on emergency Zika funding and a bill to keep the government open after the fiscal year ends at the end of the month are expected to be among the top issues of discussions.

Obama will meet with House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

The Senate is already considering taking up a short-term spending bill to fund the government through Dec. 9, but the House has not determined how it will proceed. The Senate’s plan for the bill, called a continuing resolution, is to tack up to $1 billion in Zika funds onto the must-pass legislation.

Obama’s continued push to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership during his trip to Asia, closing Guantanamo and his stalled nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court also figure to be among the priorities the president will address.

Heading into the meeting, Ryan slammed the president’s progressive legacy for its “historically weak” economic recovery, and consolidating the federal government's control of issues like health care, immigration and gun control.

“In more and more areas of American life, President Obama has given government the starring role and pushed the people into the wings,” the Wisconsin Republican wrote in The Washington Times. “He might consider this a success, but here's the true measure of progressivism: After eight years of it, the vast majority of Americans say we're on the wrong track.”

The president will also provide a briefing of his visit to Asia, which included stops in China for the G-20 summit of economic global powers and Laos, where he became the first U.S. president to visit when he attended a summit of Southeast Asian leaders.

Government funding runs out Sept. 30.

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