After a one week recess to enjoy Columbus Day, Congress is back in session — the Senate will convene Monday and the House will be back Tuesday. The Senate is back and will be focused on considering S2146, the Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act. It’s a bit looser on the House-side, which will be considering a series of noncontroversial measures and HR 1937, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act. Meanwhile, the most exciting thing happening in the House, and in DC as a whole, is whether Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI) will or won’t run for Speaker to replace John Boehner (R-OH) and former-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies on Benghazi Thursday.
It truly is decision time for Paul Ryan, not just because Boehner has announced that he plans to leave Congress in 10 days…Ryan needs to make up his mind as to whether he will seek the Speakership or get out of the way and let the Republican party find another candidate. If Ryan does not run, it is doubtful that the Speaker election will be wrapped up by Oct. 30, when Boehner planned to leave Congress. Boehner, who has pledged to remain in place until a new Speaker is chosen, could be forced to stay put and deal with thorny budget issues and raising the debt ceiling as a lame-duck Speaker…Not willing to leave his party in the lurch, Boehner has said he is willing to stay for some of November but does not expect to be in Congress come Thanksgiving.
Regardless of what Ryan decides, Boehner will stay until Republicans pick a new leader and he wants to set a date for the internal party election this week. The House GOP conference will spend several hours over the next three days behind closed doors, trying to settle on a strategy to avoid a default on the national debt, which is set to expire in early November, and chart a path for their party.
And this Speaker race is having serious implications on the debt and budget negotiations. Republicans are demanding changes to entitlement programs, a request that’s already been rejected by Democrats. Democrats want boosts in domestic spending without painful cuts, a nonstarter for the GOP. Meanwhile, there’s no House speaker scheduled to serve past October, which puts Senate Leadership, namely Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in a tough negotiating place with congressional Democrats and the White House on what exactly can get done and be passed all with little agreement in sight.
On Thursday, former Secretary of State Clinton squares off with the House Select Committee on Benghazi in what will arguably the highest-profile hearing of the year. It should be combative and explosive.