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Category: On the Hill

Debt Ceiling Plan Alludes House GOP

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The U.S. government is 12 calendar days – or 7 scheduled congressional work days – from reaching the debt limit without a clear plan of what to do. GOP leaders are so far refusing to advance a ‘clean’ debt ceiling bill that both President Obama and Democrats would support. The problem there is that the GOP leadership can’t find the 30 Republican votes they would need to join with all 188 Democrats to pass such a proposal.

One option under discussion is a proposal from the conservative Republican Study Committee, which would require House committees to produce legislation to enact spending cuts contained in the budget resolution – basically a series of cuts to equal the amount raised for the debt ceiling. This type of measure is unlikely to get a vote and even if it did, the President and Senate Democrats would block its passage. They are insisting on a ‘clean’ debt ceiling increase or suspension.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has estimated that he would exhaust “extraordinary measures” to extend the government’s borrowing authority by November 3, 2015.

Read more from Politico here.

Ryan to Run (With Conditions) and Speaker Elections Set

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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.

Congress Is Back!

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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.

 

Ryan says NO and “Interim Speaker” Idea Being Floated

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In a shocking turn of events, McCarthy withdrew himself from the race moments before the caucus was set to vote on the nominees and after making a speech to the caucus that morning as to why he should be Speaker. McCarthy will remain Majority Leader. Additionally, with McCarthy not running for Speaker, the subsequent leadership races are no longer moot because the position of Majority Leader will no longer be vacated.  As a result, the vote was immediately cancelled and the Speaker election on the 29th has been postponed. Boehner will remain Speaker until another candidate can be found.

McCarthy said that he did not have the assured votes to secure being Speaker in the larger election on the 29th, which is why he withdrew. The House Freedom Caucus had said that it will not support the caucus candidate in the larger election if it was McCarthy.

The next presumed candidate is Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who endorsed McCarthy at the morning caucus meeting. Ryan has adamantly asserted he will not run for Speaker. He is currently the House Ways and Means Committee Chair. Immediately following the breaking news of McCarthy’s withdrawal, Ryan stated that he will not run for Speaker, and he has echoed this many times subsequently.

That leaves the Republican Leadership and caucus in a pickle. In the wake of Majority Leader McCarthy’s abrupt withdrawal from the Speaker race, House Republicans kept floating trial balloon speaker candidates Thursday in the wake of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s about-face on climbing the GOP ladder, including several who might serve as an “interim” speaker.There have been points in history where the House has operated without a Speaker, but it has not been a practice in recent history. The idea of a “Interim Speaker” has been bantered about. The idea that the Member would be someone who has already announced their intent to retire allowing them to serve as Speaker for about 16 months. The only problem with this plan is who exactly would be the individual that could receive the support of both the various factions of the Republican caucus, and how this position would function…and if doing such a thing is even legitimate….

 

McCarthy Not Running for Speaker

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In a shocking turn of events, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has announced that he no longer intends to run for Speaker. This morning McCarthy addressed the Caucus as to why he should be elected Speaker and just now, he announced he was no longer running.