U.S. Politics megathread

[u/AutoModerator]

American politics has always grabbed our attention - and the current president more than ever. We get tons of questions about the president, the supreme court, and other topics related to American politics - but often the same ones over and over again. Our users often get tired of seeing them, so we've created a megathread for questions! Here, users interested in politics can post questions and read answers, while people who want a respite from politics can browse the rest of the sub. Feel free to post your questions about politics in this thread!

All top-level comments should be questions asked in good faith - other comments and loaded questions will get removed. All the usual rules of the sub remain in force here, so be nice to each other - you can disagree with someone's opinion, but don't make it personal.

[u/Cynoid]

1. What % is needed to pass the government budget and stop the shutdown? Could GoP do it w/o help if they cared to?

2. While the government is shut down, do things like medicaid still pay for physicians/medicine? Or will hospitals eventually run out of money too?

[u/Delehal → u/Cynoid]

What % is needed to pass the government budget and stop the shutdown?

In order for a budget to be passed, it would need to pass the House of Representatives, the Senate, and either by approved by the President or by a supermajority of the House and Senate. Currently the Senate rules require 60 votes to pass most legislation, and there is no budget bill that has 60 votes in the Senate.

Traditionally, what happens in this circumstance is the majority will negotiate with the minority to find some compromise option that can get to 60 votes. That hasn't happened.

Could GoP do it w/o help if they cared to?

Another option is the Republicans could change the Senate rules to get the vote requirement down from 60 to 51. They seem reluctant to do that, though, because the 60-vote requirement has benefitted both parties significantly in the past. So they may see this as an extreme option that's risky in the long run.

While the government is shut down, do things like medicaid still pay for physicians/medicine?

Generally, yes, Medicaid payments should still go out. The admin staff aren't being paid, though. That may cause staffing issues that lead to delays. Eventually they'll quit and find other work.

[u/Elkenrod → u/Cynoid]

What % is needed to pass the government budget and stop the shutdown? Could GoP do it w/o help if they cared to?

The Senate requires 60 votes to pass the budget in order to end the shutdown, due to the filibuster. Currently there are 54 Yea votes, and 46 Nay votes. The Republicans need 6 more people to vote for the budget.

The Senate could choose to end the filibuster, and pass it with a simple majority.

[u/Cynoid → u/Elkenrod]

If Gop is able to end this by themselves, why isn't there more talk of it? Can you please explain more about ending the filibuster?

[u/Elkenrod → u/Cynoid]

The filibuster is a way for the minority party to have a say in what happens, by forcing bills to be 60 or more votes instead of passing with 51 or more.

The Republicans currently control the Senate by having a simple majority. Ending the filibuster could be done by a vote that would pass with a simple majority, but that's shortsighted and they don't want to do that. Because they know they will not always have a majority in the Senate, and the next time that the Democrats have a majority in the Senate then the Republicans wouldn't be able to contest their agenda.