Less than a month after approving a 12-bill omnibus spending package that President Donald Trump signed, the Republican-led Congress moved to get a Balanced Budget Amendment on the books.

Considering taxes were cut and spending was increased via the omnibus package, signaling there wasn’t much of an appetite for a truly balanced budget, the timing seemed strange. The proposed amendment went down in the House on a vote of 233-184.

So what were lawmakers trying to do? What message was being sent?

The Show talked with longtime political strategist Bob Shrum, who worked on the Al Gore and John Kerry presidential campaigns. Shrum is now director of the Institute of Politics at USC.