Congress
Capitol agenda: Parallel pushes for an 11th-hour health deal
Rank-and-file dealmakers in both chambers are making last-ditch attempts to extend key Obamacare subsidies this week, even as it becomes crystal clear the subsidies will expire first.
House GOP moderates are hashing out what sort of extension to offer as an amendment at Tuesday afternoon’s Rules meeting — even as they signal they will fall in line with Speaker Mike Johnson’s health care plan whether they get a vote or not. A bipartisan Senate group is working simultaneously toward an extension framework that they hope to announce by the end of the week, while acknowledging it won’t get a vote till next year.
Here’s where the mod movement in each chamber stands.
— In the House: Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Monday night there’s no “final decision” on putting a subsidy extension amendment on the floor. Tuesday morning’s GOP Conference meeting could get heated as frustrated moderates — who call a subsidy extension omission “a huge mistake” — make their last plea for a vote.
But they face a huge obstacle at the 2 p.m. Rules meeting Tuesday afternoon, where Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and other moderates are unlikely to get a warm welcome from the panel’s conservative hard-liners, who are firmly against extending Obamacare in any form.
The moderates could pull a page out of the Freedom Caucus playbook and threaten to tank the rule or the underlying bill in return, but that does not appear to be in the cards: “I wouldn’t vote against it in protest,” Fitzpatrick said.
— In the Senate: Meanwhile, nearly two dozen senators convened by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) discussed issuing a roadmap this week toward a bipartisan deal.
The rough framework under discussion would pair a two-year subsidy extension with a new income eligibility cap and fraud prevention language. A potential extension of open enrollment for Obamacare exchanges and possible restrictions on abortion funding also remain under consideration.
That’s similar to Fitzpatrick’s proposal in the House, but the two efforts so far are entirely parallel. But there is some hope they might eventually converge: Rank-and-file senators are invited to join a Problem Solvers Caucus meeting Fitzpatrick is hosting Wednesday to discuss a joint effort.
But this much is clear: The Dec. 31 deadline for the subsidies is certain to come and go.
“The calendar precludes getting something done this week,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) told reporters. “But, still, a commitment to work together is a lot of progress.”
What else we’re watching:
— Boat strikes oversight: The Pentagon will make video of the Sept. 2 strikes on an alleged drug boat leaving Venezuela available to all members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees later this week, a White House official said. It’s only been shown thus far to the Gang of Eight leaders as well as top members of the Armed Services and Defense Appropriations panels.
— Approps movement in the Senate: Senate Republicans are getting close to reaching agreement within their own ranks to move a five-bill spending package before they leave for the holiday recess. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said that he and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) are in discussions with GOP leaders to get a vote stripping earmarks out of the package and potentially also an amendment related to balancing the budget.
— SPEED Act speeds through: The House GOP’s flagship legislation to speed up federal permitting for energy projects is on track for the chamber floor after House Rules agreed to allow amendment votes demanded by conservative hard-liners — including three from foes of offshore wind, who had otherwise threatened to oppose the measure. One of those amendments would strip language that would limit the president’s power to revoke approved permits for energy projects.
Meredith Lee Hill, Jordain Carney, Jennifer Scholtes and Josh Siegel contributed to this report.
Congress
Mike Johnson says House can end government shutdown ‘by Tuesday’
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he is confident Congress can end the partial government shutdown “by Tuesday” despite steep opposition from Democrats and turmoil within the GOP conference.
Johnson is under pressure to unite his caucus, with lawmakers raising concerns about funding for the Department of Homeland Security as the Trump administration faces scrutiny over its nationwide immigration crackdown that has at times turned violent.
House Republicans are hoping to take up the $1.2 trillion funding package passed by the Senate on Tuesday following a House Rules Committee meeting Monday. The partial shutdown began early Saturday.
GOP leadership in the House originally hoped to pass the bill under suspension of the rules, an expedited process that requires a two-thirds-majority vote, but Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told Johnson on Saturday that Democrats would not help Republicans acquire the necessary support for the spending bill.
“I’m confident that we’ll do it at least by Tuesday,” Johnson said in a Sunday interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We have a logistical challenge of getting everyone in town, and because of the conversation I had with Hakeem Jeffries, I know that we’ve got to pass a rule and probably do this mostly on our own. I think that’s very unfortunate.”
The Senate voted Friday to pass a compromise spending package after Senate Democrats struck a deal with President Donald Trump to extend DHS funding for two weeks. The move bought Congress more time to work out a compromise on reforms for Immigration and Customs Enforcement after federal officers fatally shot two people in Minnesota earlier this month.
Speaking to host Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press,” Johnson acknowledged that “there’s been tragedies in Minnesota” — but he also blamed Democrats in the state for “inciting violence,” even as the Trump administration attempts to tamp down pressures in the state.
Johnson praised Trump’s decision to send White House border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis, a step widely seen as a deescalation from the aggressive tactics favored by Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino.
“[Trump] was right to deputize him over that situation,” he said of Homan on NBC. “He has 40 years of experience in Border Patrol and these issues. So I think that this is going to happen, but we need good faith on both sides. Some of these conditions and requests that they’ve made are obviously reasonable and should happen. But others are going to require a lot more negotiation.”
Johnson pushed back in particular on Democratic calls to bar federal immigration enforcement officers from wearing masks and require them to wear identification, telling Fox’s Shannon Bream: “Those two things are conditions that would create further danger.”
He also signaled an unwillingness to negotiate on Democratic demands to tighten requirements for judicial warrants for immigration operations.
Still, House Democrats remained opposed to passing the funding package as is, with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) saying Sunday: “I’m not just a no. I’m a firm no.”
“I just don’t see how in good conscience Democrats can vote for continuing ICE funding when they’re killing American citizens, when there’s no provision to repeal the tripling of the budget,” Khanna said in a Sunday interview with Welker on NBC. “I hope my colleagues will say no.”
Jeffries also signaled Sunday that a wide gap remains between his conference and House Republicans, telling ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that the House must reach an agreement on judicial warrants “as a condition of moving forward.”
“The one thing that we’ve said publicly is that we need a robust path toward dramatic reform,” Jeffries said on ABC’s “This Week.” “The administration can’t just talk the talk, they need to walk the walk. That should begin today. Not in two weeks, today.”
Congress
Shutdown likely to continue at least into Tuesday
The partial government shutdown that began early Saturday morning is on track to continue at least into Tuesday, which is the earliest the House is now expected to vote on a $1.2 trillion funding package due to opposition from Democrats and internal GOP strife.
House Republican leaders have scheduled a Monday meeting of the House Rules Committee to prepare the massive Senate-passed spending bill for the floor. According to two people granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, the procedural measure teeing up a final vote would not happen until Tuesday, with final passage following if that is successful.
That’s one day later than GOP leaders had hoped. Their previous plan was to pass the bill with Democratic help under suspension of the rules, a fast-track process requiring a two-thirds-majority vote.
But that plan was complicated by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries telling Speaker Mike Johnson in a private conversation Saturday that Democratic leadership would not help Johnson secure the 70 or so Democratic votes to get the measure over the line, according to the two people and another person granted anonymity to discuss the matter.
The Tuesday plan remains tentative as GOP leaders scramble to navigate tensions inside their own conference, which could make passing the procedural measure difficult. Some conservative hard-liners, for instance, want to attach a sweeping elections bill to the package.
Jeffries said in a MS NOW interview Saturday that Republicans “cannot simply move forward with legislation taking a my way or the highway approach” while noting that House Democrats are set to have “a discussion about the appropriate way forward” in a Sunday evening caucus call — first reported by Blue Light News.
He did not rule out that Democrats might support the Senate-passed spending package, which funds the majority of federal agencies through Sept. 30 while providing a two-week extension for the Department of Homeland Security — including controversial immigration enforcement agencies.
Democrats, Jeffries said, want “a robust, ironclad path to bringing about the type of change that the American people are demanding” in immigration enforcement.
Congress
Here’s what federal programs are headed for a (possibly brief) shutdown
Government funding is set to lapse at midnight Friday for the military and many domestic programs, but cash will continue to flow at a slew of federal agencies Congress already funded.
House leaders are aiming to send a funding package to President Donald Trump Monday, days after the Senate passed the legislation just before the deadline to avert a partial shutdown.
The effect on most federal programs is expected to be minor, and employees who are furloughed would miss just one day of work if the House acts on schedule — which is not assured.
This time, many of the services that have the greatest public impact when shuttered — like farm loans, SNAP food assistance to low-income households and upkeep at national parks — will continue. That’s because Congress already funded some agencies in November and earlier this month, including the departments of Energy, Commerce, Justice, Agriculture, Interior and Veterans Affairs, as well as military construction projects, the EPA, congressional operations, the FDA and federal science programs.
Still, the spending package congressional leaders are trying to clear for Trump’s signature next week contains the vast majority of the funding Congress approves each year to run federal programs, including $839 billion for the military.
Besides the Pentagon, funding will lapse for several major nondefense agencies beginning early Saturday morning.
That includes federal transportation, labor, housing, education and health programs, along with the IRS, independent trade agencies and foreign aid. The departments of Homeland Security, State and Treasury will also be hit by the shutdown.
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