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Category: On the Hill

House GOP Proposes 3-Month Debt Limit Deal

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Earlier today, House Republicans announced a plan to condition a three-month increase in the debt limit on the Senate committing to pass a budget by the April 15th statutory deadline.  As a consequence of not meeting that statutory deadline, the House GOP proposal would withhold congressional members pay.  The 1974 Congressional Budget Act requires passage of a budget resolution by that date each year, yet the Senate has not approved a budget for the past four years.

House Speaker Boehner (R-OH) had said since 2011 that any increase in the debt ceiling must be accompanied by dollar-for-dollar spending cuts or reforms.  The new 3-month delay proposal would not include any additional spending cuts.

The White House, which has demanded a “clean” debt-ceiling increase free of spending cuts, welcomed the proposal as a step in the right direction.

This Week in DC

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Washington, DC is gearing up for the Presidential Inauguration, scheduled to take place on Monday, January 21st (MLK Day). The Senate will remain in recess until then (they were in recess last week as well), while the House is in session today through Wednesday.

The big issues facing this new Congress continue to be fiscal in nature. Last week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) confirmed that the administration’s FY2014 budget proposal would be delayed until March. By law, the President’s budget proposal is due to Congress the first Monday in February, which will be February 4th this year, but many now expect it to be about a month late. Preparation of the FY2014 budget has been complicated by greater than usual uncertainty as Congress has yet to settle on final spending levels for the current fiscal year, which is currently under a continuing resolution (CR) until the end of March. And until last week’s fiscal cliff deal was enacted, it was unclear what tax rates would be in effect or whether $109 billion in automatic spending cuts would begin January 2nd (sequestration now delayed until the end of February). It now seems possible that the federal government may have to operate under a yearlong CR and that sequester is a distinct possibility.

But before Congress takes final action on FY2013, or preliminary action on FY2014, they must first deal with raising the debt ceiling. It is predicted that the government will begin defaulting on some of its obligations sometime between February 15th and March 1st. This debate will begin in earnest in the next couple of weeks, but the partisan messaging has already begun. Republican leadership is indicating that they may force a government shutdown if democrats and the President don’t agree to additional spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. Democratic leadership has indicated that they would support the President in lifting the debt ceiling without congressional approval if an agreement cannot be reached in Congress.

While nothing seems certain these days, the one thing that is clear is that Congress will continue it’s partisan fight over how best to deal with deficit reduction and other major policy issues like gun control and immigration.

Kilmer Named to House Science & Technology Committee

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Congressman Derek Kilmer (D-6th) has been named to the House Science, Space & Technology Committee.  The Committee has jurisdiction over all energy research, development, and demonstration, and all federalland all federally owned or operated non-military energy laboratories; astronautical research and development; civil aviation research and development; environmental research and development; marine research; commercial application of energy technology; National Institute of Standards and Technology, standardization of weights and measures and the metric system; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Science Foundation; National Weather Service; outer space, including exploration and control thereof; science scholarships; scientific research, development, and demonstration.

The UW research community is fortunate to have Congressman Kilmer appointed to this committee.

Ag Committee for DelBene

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Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) has received her second committee assignment for the 113th Congress and will be serving on the House Agriculture Committee. The committee tackles a wide variety of issues ranging from agricultural research and development, rural economic development, crop insurance, food safety, international trade, and commodities regulation. Read more…

Today in Congress

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Yesterday marked the first day of the 113th Congress. For the 84 freshmen members, including Suzan DelBene (D-1st), Derek Kilmer (D-6th), and Denny Heck (D-10th), the real work starts (even though DelBene is a 6-week veteran as she filled the remaining term in Jay Inslee’s old seat). They join Congress at a time when the country faces steep fiscal challenges. Predictable partisan divisions over spending are taking shape in the new House, with Democrats aiming to rework federal borrowing authority guidelines and preserve entitlements, while Republicans are backing more detailed accounting for mandatory spending programs they aim to cut.

The federal government technically exceeded its borrowing capacity on December 31st, but the Treasury Department is taking what it called “extraordinary measures” to maintain debt payments and effectively extend its limit through the end of February. Congressional Republicans are expected to demand additional spending cuts or changes to entitlement programs in exchange for their support to raise the debt ceiling. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Geithner is expected to leave his post as early as this month, adding new complications to sensitive fiscal questions that must be answered in the coming weeks. Three battles will come in sequence in the next three months: a pending debt limit increase, a two-month delay in automatic spending cuts under Budget Control Act (PL 112-25), and the March 27th expiration of funding for government programs under the current continuing resolution (CR).

The House is in session briefly today.  Our newest delegation members – DelBene, Kilmer, and Heck – will take their first votes on legislation to increase flood insurance financing related to Hurricane Sandy. After this vote, the House will recess for a week, returning to the Capitol on January 14th. The Senate is also in session today and hope to pass the Sandy bill by unanimous consent if it clears the House this morning. In addition to the Sandy vote, both chambers will meet in the House for a Joint Session of Congress to count the electoral ballots for president and vice president of the United States.