Connect with us

Congress

Dems to the GOP on budget reconciliation: ‘Good luck’

Published

on

As House Republicans publicly grapple over how to advance President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda, House Democrats are looking across the aisle with some schadenfreude.

Just four years ago, Democrats were hotly debating how to enact President Joe Biden’s ambitious legislative agenda as they faced similar problems — a tiny legislative majority and the gauntlet of the Senate parliamentarian. Democrats ultimately ended up splitting the agenda into two separate bills, pandemic aid legislation and a massive social spending package, and the legislative wrangling consumed much of the first two years of Biden’s presidency.

Hill Republicans are debating whether to try to pass one budget reconciliation bill with all of their border, energy and tax priorities, or to split it into two packages. President-elect Donald Trump has advocated for one bill while also keeping the door open to the two-bill strategy.

And some Democrats are doubting Republicans will be able to get anything done.

“I’m counting on them to be as ineffective as they were in the last Congress. But some of the stuff that they’re talking about is really beyond the pale,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.).

“It seems to me that they’re having a great deal of difficulty in terms of sequencing what they want to emphasize,” said Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee.

While Democrats wish they held the gavels, they don’t envy the monumental task of trying to enact legislation through the budget reconciliation process to circumvent the Senate filibuster.

“Good luck,” said Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), a member of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. “They’ve got to decide on the strategy, and I think that Donald Trump agrees with whoever he speaks with last, so that’s why you have the ‘one bill, two bills.’ That makes it more difficult if you don’t know if you’re gonna go for one package or two, you can’t really start negotiations and see what’s gonna be in that package.”

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Congress

These House GOP election proposals could end up in a reconciliation bill

Published

on

The chair of the House committee overseeing elections is circulating a list of proposals to include in a budget reconciliation bill as Senate Republicans and the White House move to rev up the party-line process to pass pieces of a contentious GOP voting bill in the coming months.

The list from House Administration Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) is a peek at what sort of provisions Republicans could try to pass under reconciliation, which is strictly reserved for legislation with a direct fiscal impact. The party-line effort is likely to rule out big portions of the SAVE America Act, the bill President Donald Trump has called his “No. 1 priority” for the year.

Steil’s proposals would mandate or financially incentivize states to implement voter ID laws, require proof of citizenship for voter registration, share voter data with federal agencies for verification and conduct post-election audits, among other items, according to a document obtained by POLITICO being circulated with GOP leaders and several Republican offices. It’s an effort to try to secure major pieces of Trump’s election-related demands.

In some cases, states would lose funding under the 2002 Help America Vote Act, a law passed in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election that provides federal money to help administer elections, if they fail to comply.

It’s not clear if parts of Steil’s proposals would in fact pass muster under the party-line reconciliation process. The Senate parliamentarian’s guidance typically determines what is and isn’t included.

Three people granted anonymity to discuss the brewing deal Senate Republicans and Trump discussed Monday evening, to pass Homeland Security funding now and SAVE America Act provisions later, say the most likely outcome for a new reconciliation bill is adding money for ballot security measures and potentially incentivizing more states to enact voter ID requirements. Steil’s list includes some of those pieces.

Under Steil’s proposal, states using noncompliant IDs would be ineligible to receive HAVA funding — consistent with Steil’s bill, the Make Elections Great Again Act, which overlaps with the SAVE America Act but also has no current path to passage in the Senate.

His effort to mandate proof-of-citizenship requirements would appropriate funds to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to amend the national voter registration form to require “Documentary Proof of Citizenship” such as a passport or military ID. States would have to forfeit HAVA funds if they fail to share data with federal agencies to verify voter registration data, a move officials in several states have refused to make.

Besides the Senate parliamentarian, any effort to pass elections provisions on party lines will face other obstacles. The decision to pursue a new reconciliation bill in lieu of trying to pass the SAVE America Act in full is already generating major pushback from conservative hard-liners.

The House Freedom Caucus took a shot at Senate Republicans Tuesday, arguing the brewing DHS deal means Senate Republicans are opting for “failure theater” and “gaslighting” instead of fighting to pass the bill Trump has endorsed. Even GOP senators and senior aides are privately cautioning the fresh reconciliation push could fall apart, stranding the elections overhaul and other GOP priorities.

Continue Reading

Congress

King Charles to make first US state visit, address Congress next month

Published

on

England’s King Charles III will make his first state visit to Washington next month.

As part of his visit, the king will address Congress in a joint meeting the week of April 27, according to two people familiar with the matter granted anonymity to discuss plans ahead of a formal announcement.

The visit was first reported by Punchbowl News.

It will be the first time a British royal has addressed Congress since 1991, when Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, became the first British monarch to speak before a packed House chamber.

President Donald Trump visited London in September, and House Speaker Mike Johnson visited in January as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations. Johnson addressed Parliament during his visit, becoming the first House speaker to do so.

Charles’ visit comes as Trump continues to pressure Prime Minister Keir Starmer for assistance in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.

Starmer has distanced himself from the war, previously stating, “This is not our war, and we are not getting dragged into this war.”

Continue Reading

Congress

Stitt picks energy executive Alan Armstrong as next Oklahoma senator

Published

on

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt tapped energy executive Alan Armstrong to replace incoming DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin in the Senate, he announced in a press conference Tuesday.

Armstrong is the executive chair of Williams Companies, an energy company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Stitt called him a “strong business leader” who values “free markets and limited government.”

“Alan’s story, as you guys get to know him, reflects the very best of Oklahoma,” he said. “Our values, our work ethic, and our pursuit of the American dream that is alive and well in the state of Oklahoma.”

Armstrong will serve until a successor is elected in November. Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) is the heavy favorite to win a full term.

Continue Reading

Trending