Another looming government shutdown

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Fat Bear Week is ON!!!!!!

[Ben-Prime]

I will simply say that I am relieved that for me and my colleagues, business as usual at the end of the fiscal year to wrap up certain things can continue. Also, I have a pay grade promotion due to take effect the first week of November, so this continuing resolution buys enough time for it to process on time *and* for my R&R orders to kick in.

I hate feeling some small glee that I will be on R&R when this window closes, but there you go.

[AndyinPA]

I get pissed every time the republicans pull this shutdown crap. But I never worry about it until it happens. I don't know an exact account of how many times the republicans have tried this, but at this point my impression is that it is mostly crying wolf. And it's intentionally cruel politics. Real people are hurt, and those who will be most directly affected by it are put through weeks of horrible stress and worry about what will happen to them and how they will manage. This is what I get angry about.

[pipistrelle]

Politics is bad theater and this was bad theater at its worse. But at least I got my freedoms back so I can go to our National Parks and climb mountains next week. Thanks a bunch, you dimwits!

The National Parks shutdown was high on my list. Lots of lasting damage during the last shutdown, but IIRC that was due to the stable genius's insistence they be kept open.

[AndyinPA]

[Volkonski]

White House warns Biden would veto House appropriations measures

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... press.coop

The White House on Monday issued veto threats against two GOP-led House appropriations bills expected to come up for a vote this week as lawmakers seek to avoid a government shutdown in November.

The administration expressed its opposition to two separate funding bills likely to come up on the House floor in the coming days: one that would fund the Department of the Interior, Environment and related agencies, and another that would fund the Department of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and related agencies

The House bills would cut Department of Transportation funding by $7 billion compared to fiscal year 2023 levels, $1.2 billion from HUD funding compared to 2023 levels, and nearly $4 billion from EPA funding compared to 2023 levels.

If either bill made it to President Biden’s desk, he would veto them, the White House said. Both pieces of legislation would need to make it through the GOP-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate.

In both cases, the White House argued the bills put forward by Republicans in the House undercut an agreement reached by administration officials and GOP lawmakers in May on spending as part of negotiations to raise the debt limit.

“House Republicans had an opportunity to engage in a productive, bipartisan appropriations process, but instead are wasting time with partisan bills that cut domestic spending to levels well below the [Fiscal Responsibility Act] agreement and endanger critical services for the American people,” the White House said. “These levels would result in deep cuts to clean energy programs and other programs that work to combat climate change, essential nutrition services, law enforcement, consumer safety, education, and healthcare.”

The White House veto threats come as lawmakers face a Nov. 17 government funding deadline.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who was elected to the post last week, has said he wants to make as much progress as possible on the full slate of spending measures ahead of the looming deadline, even though a short-term funding patch will more than likely be needed to keep the government funded beyond Nov. 17.

[RTH10260]

White House warns Biden would veto House appropriations measures

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... press.coop

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who was elected to the post last week, has said he wants to make as much progress as possible on the full slate of spending measures ahead of the looming deadline, even though a short-term funding patch will more than likely be needed to keep the government funded beyond Nov. 17.

Mike Johnson will need to land his Pterodactyl friends on the WH lawn if he intends to intimidate Joe

[Ben-Prime]

White House warns Biden would veto House appropriations measures

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... press.coop

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who was elected to the post last week, has said he wants to make as much progress as possible on the full slate of spending measures ahead of the looming deadline, even though a short-term funding patch will more than likely be needed to keep the government funded beyond Nov. 17.

Mike Johnson will need to land his Pterodactyl friends on the WH lawn if he intends to intimidate Joe

I imagine Joe going all Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino.

[Slim Cognito]

White House warns Biden would veto House appropriations measures

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... press.coop

Mike Johnson will need to land his Pterodactyl friends on the WH lawn if he intends to intimidate Joe

I imagine Joe going all Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino.

This needs to be immortalized in a cartoon.

[Volkonski]

House Republicans unveil their plan to avert a government shutdown next week
Congress has until Friday night to keep the government funded. The House plans to vote on its short-term funding bill as early as Tuesday.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congre ... rcna124629

Just two and a half weeks into the job, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., opted to go with a two-step continuing resolution, or CR, over a more typical funding extension covering the entire federal government. The untested funding approach is aimed at appeasing far-right agitators in his GOP conference who despise CRs.

The House is expected to vote as early as Tuesday to give members 72 hours to read the text of the bill, according to two people familiar with matter. The plan does not include budget cuts or aid for Israel.

Under the two-step strategy — which Johnson and others have dubbed a “laddered CR” but which others have likened to a step stool — several spending bills needed to keep the government open would be extended until Jan. 19, while the remaining bills would go on a CR until Feb. 2.

GOP hardliners had been pushing Johnson to include budget cuts as part of his two-tiered CR plan, a source involved in discussions told NBC News. One House Republican, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, quickly voiced his opposition to the bill shortly after it was released.

"It’s a 100% clean. And I 100% oppose," Roy tweeted. "My opposition to the clean CR just announced by the Speaker to the @HouseGOP cannot be overstated. Funding Pelosi level spending & policies for 75 days — for future “promises.”

[Volkonski]

House to consider stopgap funding measure today to avert government shutdown

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government ... ding-bill/

House Speaker Mike Johnson's plan to prevent a government shutdown will be considered by the House on Tuesday, according to a notice sent to lawmakers late Monday night.

The stopgap measure to temporarily fund the government, known as a continuing resolution, will be put on the House floor under a procedure known as suspension of the rules. This enables it to bypass the House Rules Committee, where Republicans had signaled they would not advance the bill. Considering the measure under suspension comes with some caveats: it cannot be amended, and it requires a two-thirds majority to pass the House.

This was the approach taken by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy for the last continuing resolution in late September. All of the Democrats in the House voted for the bill, and the tactic succeeded in preventing a government shutdown. But it cost McCarthy the speakership, after Rep. Matt Gaetz introduced a vote of no confidence against him.

Like McCarthy, Johnson will have to rely on Democrats to pass the stopgap measure, but there has so far been no sign that Republicans would rush to oust Johnson in the same way McCarthy was removed, since he's had so little time as speaker.

House Democrats discussed the measure in their caucus Tuesday morning but did not make a final decision on supporting the bill. Still, there were promising signs for its prospects. While Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed concern about the structure of the bill, he told reporters he had seen no poison pills in it. and Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal told reporters before the Democratic Caucus meeting, "Two of the big things that we wanted are in this bill. I mean, it is a big win that it is 2023 levels. That was what we've said from the very beginning, and that it doesn't contain any poison pills."

Johnson unveiled his stopgap bill on Saturday. It would extend government funding at current levels for some agencies until Jan. 19, while others would be funded until Feb. 2. It does not include steep spending cuts demanded by conservatives, but it also does not provide funding for Ukraine, Israel and the southern border.

[raison de arizona]

[Volkonski]

House will vote on Speaker Mike Johnson's plan to avert a government shutdown

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/14/12128564 ... t-shutdown

The House of Representatives is expected to vote Tuesday on a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. But amid conservative opposition to the stopgap, House Speaker Mike Johnson's proposal will need to garner significant Democratic support if it hopes to pass.

Government funding is set to run out at the end of the day on Friday, and Johnson's bill is the only funding measure currently being debated in the House or the Senate. The Tuesday vote will determine the path Congress takes this week in an effort to avoid a shutdown.

The Republican-drafted bill funds four federal agencies through Jan. 19, and the rest through Feb. 2, all at current spending levels. Johnson, R-La., took the unconventional approach of splitting the deadlines for the spending bills in part to appease a bloc of House conservatives who first floated the plan. But the group abandoned their support for the plan because Johnson failed to also include deep spending cuts they have demanded.

The conservative House Freedom Caucus came out against the plan Tuesday morning, writing that it "contains no spending reductions, no border security, and not a single meaningful win for the American people."

It wasn't clear that the plan had enough Republican support to survive initial procedural votes. So conference leadership moved to bring the measure to the floor Tuesday with House rules suspended. Any bills considered under suspension of the rules require a two-thirds majority of the House to pass.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Johnson acknowledged conservative concerns, but called his two-step plan an "important innovation" that would avoid a last-minute omnibus bill passed at the end of the year.

"I want to cut spending right now, and I would like to put policy riders on this. But when you have a three vote majority, as we do right now, we don't have the votes to be able to advance that," Johnson said. "What we need to do is avoid a government shutdown. Why? Because that would unduly harm the American people. Troops wouldn't be paid. We know all the effects of that. And so we have to avoid that and we have responsibility to do it."

[raison de arizona]

"I want to cut spending right now, and I would like to put policy riders on this. But when you have a three vote majority, as we do right now, we don't have the votes to be able to advance that," Johnson said. "What we need to do is avoid a government shutdown. Why? Because that would unduly harm the American people. Troops wouldn't be paid. We know all the effects of that. And so we have to avoid that and we have responsibility to do it."

Maybe Johnson can get it done and live. We'll see.

[Volkonski]

Biden would sign funding bill if it passes Senate, White House official says

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/ ... index.html

President Joe Biden is prepared to sign the House-approved government funding bill if passed by the Senate, a White House official said Tuesday.

“If it passes the Senate, the President will sign this continuing resolution that maintains current funding levels and has no harmful policy riders,” the official said.
Beyond the pressing government funding fight, the official also called on House Republicans to abandon “extreme, partisan appropriations bills” and work with Democrats on fully-year appropriations bills. The official went on to call on Congress to pass funding for Israel, Ukraine and border security as well.

“Looking ahead, House Republicans must stop wasting time on extreme, partisan appropriations bills that break the bipartisan agreement two-thirds of them voted for and instead work quickly with Democrats on full-year appropriations bills,” the official said. “Congress must also address urgent national security and domestic needs—including funding for Israel, Ukraine, humanitarian assistance, border security, WIC, and other critical priorities that have bipartisan support.”

[raison de arizona]

Collins: Does that mean shut down the government if you don't get what you want on immigration?

Roy: If that's what's necessary.. If Biden chooses to shut down the economy instead of the border, that's on him, not us.

Collins: It would be on you because you are congress.

[Volkonski]

Days from government shutdown, Speaker Johnson may need short-term spending bill he previously opposed

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/10/jan-19- ... ution.html

Senate Republicans repeatedly said this week that a short-term spending bill may be necessary to keep the government open, a harsh reality for House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is balancing a looming shutdown deadline with the demands of hardline Republicans.

The last temporary spending bill Congress passed, in November, established a laddered schedule of funding deadlines, the first on Jan. 19 and the other on Feb. 2. On Sunday, members of Congress reached an agreement on a topline spending bill, but still have to negotiate four separate appropriations bills by Jan. 19 to keep the government open.

As the first deadline approaches, members have expressed growing doubt on whether a shutdown can be avoided without another continuing resolution, or CR.

“Time is so compressed and the deadline so short that I’m afraid we’re looking at another short-term continuing resolution,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in an interview Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Cornyn echoes Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who both said this week that a stopgap funding measure is looking increasingly inevitable.

Meanwhile, eyes are on Johnson to follow through on the hardline Republican demands he was elected to champion. If not, he could meet the same fate as his predecessor, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who was ousted in part for conceding to Democrats to avoid a government shutdown.

Johnson said he is planning to call former President Donald Trump on Wednesday to “talk him through the details” of the budget negotiations.

“He and I have a very close relationship,” Johnson said Wednesday on “The Hugh Hewitt Show.” “He’s been an enthusiastic supporter of my leadership here, and I expect he’ll be doing that again.”

Relying on Trump may not be a good plan.

[raison de arizona]

Talk tfg through the details? What a load of crap. He isn't the president anymore, bub.

[Volkonski]

Conservatives tank procedural vote in revolt against Johnson’s spending deal

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4400 ... press.coop

A band of House conservatives tanked a procedural vote on Wednesday in a rebellion against the spending deal Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) struck with Democrats, which members of the right flank have sharply criticized.

Thirteen Republicans joined with Democrats to vote against the rule for a trio of bills, preventing the chamber from debating and voting on the measures — which are unrelated to spending. Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah), the vice chair of the House GOP conference, changed his vote to oppose the rule shortly before the vote closed, a move that allows him to bring up the rule for another vote at a later time.

The final tally was 203-216. Republican leadership canceled an afternoon vote series following the revolt.

The show of opposition came days after Johnson unveiled a deal on topline spending numbers for the remainder of fiscal year 2024. Conservatives have railed against the deal for not cutting spending enough.

[Volkonski]

Congress passes short-term funding extension, averting government shutdown ahead of Friday deadline

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/18/politics ... index.html

Congress passed a short-term funding extension Thursday, averting a partial government shutdown at the end of the week after lawmakers raced the clock ahead of a key Friday deadline.

The bill will now be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. The Senate voted first to pass the measure by a tally of 77 to 18. The House passed the bill later in the day, 314 to 108.

But major challenges still lay ahead. Lawmakers must now attempt to pass a series of full-year spending bills before new March deadlines – a painstaking process with a wide array of potential landmines as the two parties fight for competing policy priorities.

In a rare event, lawmakers had been confronting not one but two government shutdown deadlines early this year – on January 19 and February 2.

The short-term funding extension sets up two new funding deadlines on March 1 and March 8. The stopgap measure will provide more time for full-year appropriations bills to be negotiated and passed.

[Volkonski]

GOP senators seethe as Trump blows up delicate immigration compromise

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/25/politics ... index.html

Senior Senate Republicans are furious that Donald Trump may have killed an emerging bipartisan deal over the southern border, depriving them of a key legislative achievement on a pressing national priority and offering a preview of what’s to come with Trump as their likely presidential nominee.

In recent weeks, Trump has been lobbying Republicans both in private conversations and in public statements on social media to oppose the border compromise being delicately hashed out in the Senate, according to GOP sources familiar with the conversations – in part because he wants to campaign on the issue this November and doesn’t want President Joe Biden to score a victory in an area where he is politically vulnerable.

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged in a private meeting on Wednesday that Trump’s animosity toward the yet-to-be-released border deal puts Republicans in a serious bind as they try to move forward on the already complex issue. For weeks, Republicans have been warning that Trump’s opposition could blow up the bipartisan proposal, but the admission from McConnell was particularly striking, given he has been a chief advocate for a border-Ukraine package.

Now, Republicans on Capitol Hill are grappling with the reality that most in the GOP are loathe to do anything that is seen as potentially undermining the former president. And the prospects of a deal being scuttled before it has even been finalized has sparked tensions and confusion in the Senate GOP as they try to figure out if, and how, to proceed – even as McConnell made clear during party lunches Thursday that he remains firmly behind the effort to strike a deal, according to attendees.

“I think the border is a very important issue for Donald Trump. And the fact that he would communicate to Republican senators and congresspeople that he doesn’t want us to solve the border problem because he wants to blame Biden for it is … really appalling,” said GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump.

He added, “But the reality is that, that we have a crisis at the border, the American people are suffering as a result of what’s happening at the border. And someone running for president not to try and get the problem solved. as opposed to saying, ‘hey, save that problem. Don’t solve it. Let me take credit for solving it later.’”

[raison de arizona]

Indefensible. They hate America.

[Suranis]

Dudes, you have been dealing with this guy for the better part of a decade. Of course he was going to blow up deals, especially ones other people do. Hell he often blows up his own deals. It's what he does. It's what he has always done. If this is a surprise, if you don't expect him to do this, you are Morans.

[raison de arizona]

Not a surprise at all, just disgusting and anti-American.

Par for the course.

[Volkonski]

GOP privately expects government shutdown

https://www.axios.com/2024/02/21/republ ... ke-johnson

Behind closed doors, House Republicans have shifted from optimistically cautious to expecting a government shutdown, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will have to choose in coming weeks between a fight with Democrats that threatens a shutdown, or a deal with Democrats that threatens his job.

"People are predicting a shutdown even if it's just for a few days," a GOP lawmaker recently told Axios.

They're either "close to reaching a deal or it's about to blow up," one subcommittee chair recently told a fellow House Republican.

Zoom in: The government will start a partial shutdown unless a budget or spending stopgap is passed by March 1.

It will go into a full shutdown if there's not a budget or stopgap by March 8.
"We think we're going to meet the deadlines," Johnson told reporters last week.