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The agreement itself is likely going to be among the last issues to be finalized, after the various drafts are reconciled.
The other key thing that happened last week was the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the president can fire independent agency commissioners at will. One of the requests Dems have had through the Clarity negotiation process is for Trump to fill the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission with a bipartisan slate of commissioners. That ask remains, one of the people said.
There are broader issues that may jam up Clarity. One individual following the negotiations pointed out that the U.S. House of Representatives has struggled to make meaningful progress on even procedural issues.
Punchbowl News and Politico both published reports about the House's struggles last week. Politico's Calen Razor reported that the House and Senate majority leaders' "pre-midterm to-do list is looking increasingly unattainable." And Punchbowl's Jake Sherman said "the House is in a really crazy state of paralysis."
The House is now looking at a possible third reconciliation budget bill, but the Politico report suggested this bill also has certain obstacles it needs to clear. And even if the Senate and the House do pass the bill, there are legitimate questions as to whether Trump will even sign it. He has not, as of press time, signed the bipartisan housing bill that Congress passed last month after saying he wouldn't until Congress passed a voting ID bill. Congress sent the bill Trump's way early last week. If he does nothing after 10 days it becomes law automatically.
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