Today, the White House has issued a Statement of Administrative Policy (SAP) in support of the budget deal that will soon pass the House. In it’s support of the passage of HR 1314, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the Administration’s specifically cited its support of the inclusion of funds for education, job training and research.
Category: Congressional To Do
House Goes First on Budget Deal
At midnight last night, the Bipartisan Budget Agreement of 2015 was introduced in the House, and the House Rules Committee is expected to consider the measure tomorrow paving the way for the full House to consider the legislation Wednesday. Passage is expected Wednesday and the measure will move to the Senate Wednesday night. The Senate is expected to consider and pass the measure by the end of the week.
The timing will give Boeher plenty of time to pass something before he retires and the elections for Paul Ryan as Speaker are held Thursday as well as before the national debt limit expires on November 3rd.
After the measure passes, the House and Senate Appropriations committees will begin working with the new top line budget amounts, known as 302(b)s, and those committees will begin on crafting new FY16 appropriations bills to pass before the December 11th Continuing Resolution expires.
Ryan to Run (With Conditions) and Speaker Elections Set
Last night, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced that he would run for Speaker if he could have the support of the whole Republican caucus. Ryan told theGOP conference in a closed door meeting that he would seek the top spot only if he received the endorsement of the three largest GOP groups—the Freedom Caucus, the Republican Study Committee, and the Tuesday Group. Ryan informally met with the Freedom Caucus on Tuesday and will meet with the Republican Study Committee on Wednesday/this morning and the Freedom Caucus this afternoon.
The House Freedom Caucus has made it know that collectively they are wary about Ryan’s “demands” saying he’s setting them up for the blame if he ultimately doesn’t run. It is generally acknowledged by members of the Freedom Caucus that the larger GOP conference views Ryan as the only member able to get 218 votes, and group as a whole would be blamed for stopping his candidacy if they don’t support him. Many members of the conservative caucus worked to oust Speaker John Boehner and claimed victory earlier this month when Boehner announced he would step down. The members are concerned that Ryan is unwilling to make tangible promises to change the policies and rules governing how the House operates.
First this morning after Ryan’s announcement, Speaker John Boehner stated that the internal Republican election for speaker will be October 28, and the floor election will be October 29.
House GOP Sets Leadership Elections
House Republicans will hold elections for new leaders on Oct 8 in a closed door session. It is expected to be a contentious meeting and election, with multiple candidates vying for each position as the House GOP conference struggles to maintain political strength after Speaker John Boehner’s surprise retirement announcement last week.
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is expected to win the speakers gavel. He’s running against Florida Republican Rep. Daniel Webster who unsuccessfully tried to beat Boehner in the speaker election earlier this year.
If McCarthy wins that opens the door for a majority leader election. Reps. Tom Price (R-GA) and Steve Scalise (R-LA), who is the current Majority Whip, are both vying for that post.
If Scalise wins, there will also be a race for Majority Whip.
Shutdown Averted
Earlier this morning, the Senate passed a clean continuing resolution (CR) extending federal funding authority until December 11th. Last week, the Senate tried and failed to pass a CR which would prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funds. The measure failed, which cleared the way for the clean CR.
Just now, the House cleared, 277-151, a two-month stopgap spending bill on Wednesday that will avert a government shutdown. Earlier, the Senate passed the measure 78-20. The bill, which will keep the government funded through Dec. 11, is expected to be quickly signed by President Barack Obama.
The measure was approved only with strong support by House Democrats — a sign of just how angry rank-and-file Republicans remain. In one last display of their fury, House Republicans on Tuesday adopted another resolution to cut off government financing to Planned Parenthood. The resolution was to be sent to the Senate, where Democrats were certain to block it.