Congress
The other reason Democrats are taking Trump to the mat in a shutdown battle
Democrats who have put health care at the center of their government funding demands have another motivation for not backing down ahead of a likely shutdown: ending President Donald Trump’s efforts to undermine Congress’ funding power.
The fight to wrest control of the federal pursestrings has been ongoing for eight months, with lawmakers of both parties growing increasingly resentful of the White House’s snowballing efforts to scrap congressionally approved spending. Now the Supreme Court’s brief but potent ruling last Friday giving Trump the thumbs up to withhold $4 billion is serving as lighter fluid for Democrats’ escalating rage.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), a senior appropriator, called the Supreme Court decision “an absurdity” and “a pile of garbage,” adding that the justices were in effect dabbling at “policymaking — not constitutional law.”
The battle to rein in Trump and White House budget director Russ Vought through a piece of must-pass legislation has been eclipsed by Democrats’ larger push to extend expanded Affordable Care Act tax credits that are due to expire at the end of the year.
But Democrats are seething about the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” opinion, arguing that Trump and the high court are ignoring the intent of the 1974 law designed to prevent presidents from withholding federal cash. And they see themselves as the last line of defense.
“He is unchecked at this point,” Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), another senior appropriator, said of Trump in an interview. “We have to check him. No one should have that kind of power.”
Earlier this month, Democrats put forward an alternative to the GOP-led stopgap funding patch. Their proposed bill, which Republicans have rejected, would extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies and roll back some of the Medicaid cuts Republicans enacted as part of their megabill over the summer. It also would thwart Trump’s ability to withhold and cancel federal funding.
One provision would altogether end the fast-track process of clawing back funding on a simple-majority vote in the Senate, as Republicans did this summer in clearing Trump’s request to rescind $9 billion from foreign aid programs and public broadcasting. Democrats also included language to hamper Trump’s effort to cancel a separate $4.9 billion through a “pocket rescission,” by extending the expiration date of that cash.
“Nobody has any incentive to reach a deal if it’s not going to be honored,” Merkley said, expressing Democrats’ fear of agreeing to a funding bill the White House later flouts. “That’s what it comes down to.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he made a similar point during a meeting Monday with Trump, calling the president’s funding moves “the other issue that was sharply drawn” during the Oval Office discussion with other top congressional leaders.
Schumer said he and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries “made the point clear” that it would be futile to negotiate a bipartisan agreement if the president can then “undo it all without any input.”
Democrats are also exasperated that the vast majority of their Republican colleagues aren’t willing to buck Trump to protect their own power to dictate how federal money is spent.
“It’s in the interest of Congress to not allow the executive to rescind funding that Congress has already approved,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said in an interview. “I would hope that everybody’s going to come to that conclusion.”
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is among the few Republicans publicly subscribing to that view. In rolling out her own framework this month for averting a government shutdown, Murkowski also suggested language to hamper what she called Trump’s “illegal pocket rescission.”
But other powerful Republican appropriators argue that Trump would never sign a bill that impedes his moves to freeze, shift and cancel federal funding.
“I don’t know very many presidents that tie their own hands in the use of executive authority,” House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told reporters this week.
Cole also contends that the battle over Congress’ funding powers “will be solved in the courts” and that “the power of the purse could pretty clearly rest with Congress as long as we do our job.”
In its Friday ruling, however, the Supreme Court largely punted on the fundamental separation-of-powers questions at stake in the funding fight. Instead, it ruled on technical grounds that Trump’s recent pocket rescission could go forward.
In the final hours before the shutdown deadline, many Republicans are characterizing Democratic outrage about Trump’s funding moves as another item on a laundry list of unreasonable demands.
“Think about what Schumer’s doing here,” Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said in a brief interview. “How much sense does it make for him to start complaining about pocket rescissions when he won’t even let us bring the appropriations bills to the floor?”
If Schumer and other Senate Democrats would only vote to pass the GOP-led funding patch, Hoeven said, the chamber could move on to clearing bipartisan measures to fund the government at updated totals for the fiscal year that begins Wednesday.
Ultimately, Democrats contend that their demands in the shutdown battle are closely interconnected. Beyond the extension of expiring health care subsidies, minority party leaders are fighting against the Trump administration’s cuts to health efforts like medical research and assistance for state and local health programs.
“They further have worked at decimating public health by stealing the funds that have been appropriated by Democrats and Republicans,” said House Appropriations ranking member Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.). “We need to have assurances that once we come to a deal, they’re not going to step in and say, ‘Sorry, no deal.’”
Mia McCarthy, Cassandra Dumay and Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.
The six-week-old Department of Homeland Security shutdown is hinging not only on what lawmakers do in the Capitol, but on how they get there.
Members of Congress are some of America’s most frequent fliers, giving them an up-close look at the shutdown’s most dramatic impacts on Americans — the long airport security lines caused by TSA staffing shortages.
The juxtaposition of the elected jet-setters, who can take advantage of some unusual perks as they travel, with growing disruptions for everyday travelers has emerged as the most potent point of pressure as the standoff wears on.
“Generally, when elected officials have to suffer the consequences of their own inaction, it tends to provide a motive for action,” Rep. Kevin Kiley, a California independent, said Thursday.
President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening he would sign an executive order to pay TSA agents, but as prospects for a shutdown-ending deal ebbed and flowed in recent weeks, airports became politically fraught spaces for members.
Many have made clear they are waiting in lines alongside everyone else, some have proposed legislation to enshrine that principle and at least one partisan confrontation has taken place on airport property.
In a viral blow-up last week outside the airport in Austin, Texas, Democratic Rep. Greg Casar crashed an event where GOP Sen. John Cornyn was handing out hamburgers to TSA agents missing paychecks amid the funding lapse. Casar blasted Cornyn for opposing legislation that would fund TSA without providing funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“My experience at the airport speaking with TSA agents is that several that I’ve spoken with just want to see us pass a TSA-only bill and have our debate about ICE separately,” Casar said in an interview.
Cornyn then introduced legislation to end “special treatment” for members of Congress at airports by requiring that lawmakers use the same screening procedures as other travelers and banning federal funds from being used to give members expedited security screenings. The legislation passed the Senate unanimously but has not been taken up in the House.
“As many Americans probably don’t know … airports around the country allow Members of Congress to bypass the usual TSA security screening process at airports,” Cornyn said in a statement. “This should end today.”
The special security arrangements are just some of the air-travel privileges that lawmakers can enjoy. Lawmakers have been known to skip to the front of screening lines, and many take advantage of special security escorts as they move through airports.
Major airlines offer special reservation booking privileges to members of Congress and their staff, giving them direct lines with dedicated personnel devoted to handling the needs of 535 congressional offices. Some allow members to book multiple flights on the same day without penalty, giving them options in case a vote runs late or another delay arises.
Delta, the largest U.S. carrier, said Tuesday it was suspending airport escorts for lawmakers and assistance from special “red coat” agents in light of the ongoing shutdown. The airline’s dedicated “Capital Desk” reservations line remains open.
Even before the shutdown, airports have been political hazards for members of Congress. Most infamously, former Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in a 2007 bathroom sex sting inside the Minneapolis airport, effectively ending his career. Former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) and Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) were both cited after trying to bring firearms through security checkpoints.
More recently, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) sparked a political firestorm after she was alleged to have verbally abused Charleston, South Carolina, airport workers in October after a mix-up involving her security escort. The widely publicized incident was seen as harming her campaign for governor.
The notion of lawmakers getting special air travel perks has gone viral in several instances in recent days as airport security lines have grown.
Proclaiming her support for Cornyn’s measure Thursday, Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa reposted a video showing old, pre-shutdown videos of Mace and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) being escorted through airports.
“Neither Republicans or Democrats should be skipping the line while constituents are facing 4+ hour waits across the country,” she said.
Virtually all of the more than 20 lawmakers Blue Light News interviewed Thursday about the airport chaos expressed sympathy for the unpaid agents, and many took pains to emphasize they had been inconvenienced alongside everyone else.
“My staff has been crushed. I got crushed a couple times. I got caught in the mess,” said Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), who frequently flies out of Atlanta, America’s busiest airport. “First time I walked in, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, pandemonium.’”
Utah Republican Rep. Burgess Owens, who flies out of Salt Lake City, another Delta hub, said in an interview he does not use any special airline offerings for lawmakers and said he was glad those services are paused.
“Across the board, we should be living the same experience and pain that we give to other people,” he said.
“I don’t think we deserve any special perks,” added Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), who said the priority should be “making sure our constituents … can get through the line.”
There is, however, another point of bipartisan consensus — that the airport chaos is the other party’s fault.
“Democrats have proposed that we fund [TSA] fully,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said, referring to bills that would provide standalone funding for the agency. “Trump just refuses to take the deal.”
Speaker Mike Johnson made the opposite case in a Fox News interview Thursday afternoon.
“If you’re waiting in line at the airport, it’s because Democrats are refusing to fund the government,” he said.
Oriana Pawlyk contributed to this report.
A large contingent of House Republicans — encompassing hard-liners, Budget Committee members, panel chairs and party leaders — piled into Speaker Mike Johnson’s office Thursday afternoon to discuss a second party-line package, according to four people granted anonymity to share details of the private meeting.
Among the lawmakers attending were Budget Chair Jodey Arrington of Texas and Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger, also of Texas.
Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Byron Donalds of Florida, Tom McClintock of California and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma were also on hand, alongside Pennsylvania Reps. Lloyd Smucker and Scott Perry.
“We’re definitely preparing to move forward,” Johnson said in an interview as he left the meeting, regarding the House GOP Conference’s plans to pursue another bill through the filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process. “We’re talking about more details. Lots of work going on.”
One of the biggest issues members are trying to work through at the moment is how to close the wide gap between Republicans in the House and Senate. Most House Republicans want a more expansive bill with myriad conservative policy priorities to ride alongside war and defense funding, while the Senate GOP is largely pushing for a more narrowly-focused measure, according to the four people.
Senate Democrats rejected a GOP photo ID amendment Thursday, an issue that Republicans are eager to use as a cudgel in the midterms.
Senators voted 53-47 on the amendment from Ohio Sen. Jon Husted, which needed 60 votes to advance. Republicans wanted to add the language to their election bill, known as the SAVE America Act.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the amendment “would impose the single strictest voter ID law in America.”
“Stricter than Texas. Stricter than Florida. Stricter than any state in the country,” he said.
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