Congress
Senators closing in on key piece of shutdown deal
Republicans say they are close to finalizing a package of full-year funding measures for select federal agencies — a critical piece of bipartisan negotiations over the terms for ending the prolonged government shutdown.
“The mini-package should be nearing completion, and that will be the vehicle” for the stopgap spending bill to reopen the government, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday after a closed-door GOP lunch.
Thune met Tuesday night with Democratic negotiators on the shutdown, including Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats. Bipartisan negotiators want the Senate to stay in session through the weekend to finish a deal, according to two people granted anonymity to disclose private dynamics.
While Thune didn’t rule out staying past the Senate’s normal Thursday afternoon exit time, he said he’d need to first see how much progress was being made.
There is growing consensus that a key to unlocking the ability to pass a continuing resolution to end the shutdown hinges on landing a deal to move forward on three appropriations bills packaged together in a “minibus”: Agriculture-FDA, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs and Legislative Branch.
Republicans want to move these bills as a sign of good faith that they are serious about pursuing the regular-order appropriations process once the shutdown is over, and GOP senators are working with some centrist Democrats to quickly reach an agreement.
But obstacles remain on both sides of the aisle in terms of getting the votes to overcome procedural hurdles.
Senators will need consent from every lawmaker to speed up consideration of the funding package, and Republicans will need help from Democrats to even bring it to the floor; progressives are privately skeptical they would agree to that, preferring at this point to stand firm in extracting more concessions from Republicans before shoring up the votes to end the shutdown. Democratic leadership also hasn’t yet signed off on the package, which could still take several days to finalize.
The Senate Democratic Caucus will meet again for a closed-door lunch Thursday to discuss its larger shutdown strategy, including how hard to press Republicans for an agreement on extending the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Another piece for the House and Senate Republicans to iron out: a new stopgap expiration date. GOP senators discussed this during their Wednesday lunch but didn’t come to any conclusions. Privately, however, some Senate GOP appropriators are coming around to a push from others in their conference to settle on a January end date as opposed to Dec. 19, according to two Republican senators granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) noted the House isn’t likely to pass a December stopgap, anyway, making a January end date the more likely option.
House GOP and Democratic leadership circles think if Republicans can agree on a CR date by this Friday, the House could vote on the package to reopen the government next week, according to four people with direct knowledge of the matter. Mullin said Republicans think they can nail down this question in the “next 24 hours.”
But many lawmakers, especially in House Democratic leadership, believe the final government reopening won’t happen until the week of Nov 17 — unless something rapidly changes in the Senate in the coming hours.
Congress
The future of SAVE America
As a potential Homeland Security funding deal comes together, Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday the Senate could temporarily drop its consideration of a contentious GOP elections bill, the SAVE America Act, then return to it after DHS funding is passed.
Thune’s comments come as Republicans are trying to reach an agreement with Democrats on ending a five-week shutdown of the sprawling department. Thune has threatened to cancel a planned two-week recess if the shutdown doesn’t end this week.
“Assuming we can move on … government funding, we can pick this thing up when we come back” from Easter, Thune said.
Congress
These House GOP election proposals could end up in a reconciliation bill
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.
Congress
King Charles to make first US state visit, address Congress next month
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.”
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoLuigi Mangione acknowledges public support in first official statement since arrest
-
Politics1 year agoFormer ‘Squad’ members launching ‘Bowman and Bush’ YouTube show
-
Politics1 year agoBlue Light News’s Editorial Director Ryan Hutchins speaks at Blue Light News’s 2025 Governors Summit
-
Politics1 year agoFormer Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron launches Senate bid
-
The Dictatorship7 months agoMike Johnson sums up the GOP’s arrogant position on military occupation with two words
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoPete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse
-
Uncategorized1 year ago
Bob Good to step down as Freedom Caucus chair this week
-
Politics11 months agoDemocrat challenging Joni Ernst: I want to ‘tear down’ party, ‘build it back up’



