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News and updates

News and updates

Shutdown: Day Seven

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Today marks the seventh day of the government shutdown, with no end in sight as both sides show no signs of compromising. It is becoming increasingly clear that the end of the government shutdown will be tied to a broader deal on raising the debt ceiling – likely to be the focus of debate in Congress this week. The starting point for negotiations seems to be that Democrats will oppose either a delay or defunding of the health care law, and many liberals say they’ll also block cuts Republicans want to make to Social Security and Medicare. The GOP will oppose any tax increases and may insist that long-term spending cuts should be the price for any debt limit hike.

Meanwhile, the House will continue to bring up short-term “mini-CRs” to reopen portions of government even though the Senate has refused to consider such an approach. Today the House is set to consider a bill to restart operations at the Food and Drug Administration.

Also in the House, Democrats are advancing discharge petition to bring up a GOP bill that automatically funds the government through November 15th. Democrats believe there are enough votes to support the plan if they could just bring it to the floor for a vote. So far Speaker Boehner has opposed bringing a clean CR bill to the floor for consideration.

And finally, the shutdown will end for most Defense Department civilian employees as they have been called back to work today. This comes after a legal ruling by the Justice and Defense departments that found the administration could eliminate furloughs for employees whose responsibilities contribute to the morale, well-being, capabilities, and readiness of servicemembers.

Shutdown: Day Four

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After some tense moments yesterday with the shooting at the US Capitol, Congress is poised to return to blaming each other over the federal government shutdown that is now entering its fourth day. It appears that both the House and Senate will stay in session over the weekend. The Senate is hoping to keep the pressure on the House to deliver a clean CR without provisions affecting the health reform law. The House, meanwhile, is moving forward on 11 additional short-term spending bills to reopen select areas of government and put pressure on the Senate to negotiate.

Even with all of this legislative activity, there is no end in sight for the current shutdown.

Over the past couple of days, House Republicans have advanced several bills targeting high-profile areas of the government impacted by the shutdown, such as national parks, veterans’ benefits, and the National Institutes of Health.

Today the House is set to continue on that piecemeal approach by considering several more bills to fund the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, nuclear weapon and non-proliferation activities, the FDA, intelligence agencies, border security and customs enforcement, American Indian health and education programs, the National Weather Service, Impact Aid, Head Start, and FEMA.

Senate Democrats and the White House have rejected that piecemeal approach to reopening government and instead continue to demand that Republicans accept a clean CR to fund the entire government at sequester levels.

House Republicans are scheduled to meet today to discuss what they want to achieve in the merging fights over the government shutdown and the debt ceiling. House Republicans are in agreement that the White House and Senate Democrats must negotiate with them on reopening the government and avoiding a potentially historic default. But with the deadline for raising the $16.7 trillion borrowing limit less than two weeks away, they also admit they are forging ahead without a clear endgame in mind.

Sources: Politico, CQ

House Democrats Introduce Comprehensive Immigration Reform

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A group of House Democrats yesterday – led by Washington’s 1st District Congresswoman Suzan DelBene, released a comprehensive immigration reform bill. The legislation, called the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act largely reflects the bipartisan Senate bill. Among other things, the plan:

  • Contains much of the same language from the Senate bill that reforms visa programs and interior enforcement
  • Includes a bipartisan border-security bill which already passed the House Homeland Security Committee
  • Focuses on securing borders, protecting citizens, uniting families, and offering a pathway to citizenship based on certain qualifications.

While this is a significant step in the immigration reform world, it is not likely that this bill will advance anytime soon. With all of the action surrounding the budget and debt ceiling, the latest consensus is that larger immigration reform will get pushed to 2014 – although House Republicans may still move their piece-meal bills.

Click HERE to read DelBene’s Press Release

Click HERE for a section-by-section summary of the House Democrats’ legislation

Shutdown: Day Three

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The federal government shutdown is entering its third day with no end in sight. And the US will hit its borrowing limit in two weeks, which leads many to speculate that the debt limit, ending or modifying the sequester, and FY14 appropriations issues will all be tied together and dealt with as a larger legislative package.

Republicans and Democrats continue to blame each other for the stalemate, and a White House meeting yesterday between President Obama and House and Senate leaders resulted in little progress. Senate Democrats insist on a clean CR and the House Republicans are unwilling to give up on their insistence on defunding or delaying the health reform law.

The blame-game will continue today as the House continues to bring up short-term spending bills in a piecemeal approach and the Senate is set to “kill” the first of those mini-CRs. Yesterday the House approved a short-term CR to fund NIH after news reports indicated that patients were being turned away from last chance treatments, including 30 children battling cancer. Also yesterday the House approved two mini-CRs to fund the National Park system and the District of Columbia. Today they will bring up two additional mini-CRs to fund the National Guard and Veterans programs.

None of these measures are expected to be approved by the Senate. Today that chamber is set to “kill” the mini-CRs approved by the House yesterday. The White House has also issued a statement saying that all the mini-CRs would be vetoed if they reach the President’s desk.

All of this legislative activity appears to just be killing time as we get closer to October 17th, the date that the Treasury says the US will reach its debt limit. Lawmakers appear to be following a strategy to combine the current fiscal issues with an effort to increase the debt limit and also deal with sequestration in one legislative package. If that’s true, then this government shutdown will continue through next week.

Shutdown: Day Two

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As the federal government shutdown enters day two, there are no signs of a quick resolution. Instead it now appears that this shutdown could last for a couple of weeks and will only be resolved as part of a larger deal to increase the debt limit in exchange for concessions on government spending and maybe even on health reform implementation.

Yesterday House Republicans brought up three bills to fund specific areas of government through December 15th. These “mini-CRs” would allow temporary funding for the National Park Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as allow the District of Columbia to use its own revenue to keep operating. The Democrats dismissed the tactic and reiterated their demand for a “clean” CR free of policy riders that would defund or delay the health-care overhaul. All three measures were called up under a suspension of the rules, which meant they required a two-thirds majority to pass. Only a handful of Democrats broke ranks to support the bills and so they all were defeated. All three measures will be brought up again this morning under regular rules so they can be passed by a simple majority, but they have little chance of advancing in the Senate and also drew a White House veto threat on Tuesday.

All of the political antics over the CR is just the opening act of what many are predicting will be a much bigger battle as the federal government is due to hit it borrowing limit on October 17th. The shutdown could continue until then and used as leverage to bring about a “grand bargain” that would resolve the debt limit, FY14 funding, and sequestration, as well as opening up ongoing negotiations on a long list of policy provisions favored by Republicans. They could include delaying implementation of the health care law for a year, instructions for a revenue-neutral tax overhaul, approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, a rewrite of financial regulations, new spending cuts, and other changes.

But absolutely nothing is certain right now except that federal government remains closed and Members of Congress continue to play the blame game.