US House Republicans eye stopgap funding measure to head off shutdown
risk
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[October 27, 2023]
By Richard Cowan and David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives
on Thursday were debating their next move on how to avert a partial
government shutdown next month, with one prominent lawmaker saying they
needed to agree quickly on a "path forward."
Newly installed Speaker Mike Johnson was floating the possibility of
extending funding through mid-January or mid-April to give lawmakers
more time to negotiate 12 separate bills funding the government through
the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, 2024.
But Johnson told Fox News in an interview late on Thursday that House
Republicans want "certain conditions" attached to any stopgap bill. He
did not give specifics but did say "I think they'll be conditions the
American people can live with and a consensus we can build around here
in the House."
Earlier in the day, multiple Republicans agreed they wanted to avert the
risk of a partial government shutdown on Nov. 17, after party infighting
brought the U.S. to the brink of that this month, headed off only by a
bipartisan deal that led to the ouster of Johnson's predecessor, Kevin
McCarthy, which left the chamber leaderless for three weeks.
"We need a path forward," said Representative Steve Womack, a senior
Republican member of the House Appropriations Committee. He said he
would like to see the House go straight into government funding
negotiations with the Democratic-majority Senate as a way to expedite
the appropriations process, avoiding last-minute brinkmanship.
"I would like for us to be able to avoid that by dealing with it now,
rather than at the last hour," Womack said.
Democratic President Joe Biden is also pushing for $106 billion in new
spending to aid Israel and Ukraine, and beef up enforcement at the
U.S.-Mexico border.
Meanwhile, the House and Senate must deal -- in one fashion or another
-- with the 12 regular spending bills funding government activities for
the fiscal year.
Fights over money have occupied most of Congress' time for the past
year. Partisan disputes brought the federal government to the brink of
defaulting on its then-$31.4 trillion in debt in May, an event that
would have shaken the world financial system.
Less than a month ago, intra-party fighting among Republicans brought
the federal government within hours of a partial shutdown, with hardline
Republicans rejecting a $1.59 trillion discretionary spending limit
Biden and Johnson's predecessor Kevin McCarthy had agreed on, instead
calling for an additional $120 billion in cuts.
Notably, Johnson on Sept. 30 voted against the temporary spending bill
that averted an Oct. 1 shutdown.
Representative Thomas Massie, a conservative firebrand, meanwhile told
reporters that he backs a one-year extension of current spending,
arguing, "There's no real leverage in it for us to have this
(government) shutdown impending."
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The U.S. Capitol Building is seen in Washington, U.S., August 15,
2023. REUTERS/Kevin Wurm/File Photo
For months, many Republicans had opposed such a measure, arguing it
simply enshrines spending priorities written last year by Democrats,
who controlled the House, Senate and White House.
But under a law enacted on June 3, a year-long extension of spending
would trigger across-the-board spending cuts of 1% from the last
fiscal year's appropriations. That could trouble many lawmakers who
would not want to see indiscriminate cuts to social programs or the
Defense Department at a time of wars in Ukraine and Israel.
The intense debates over spending come amid high interest rates that
have pushed up the government's cost of borrowing and for the
federal Social Security and Medicare programs, driving Washington to
a $1.7 trillion deficit for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30. It also
comes amid falling tax revenues.
SENATE PROGRESS
The Senate, following long delays imposed by a few Republicans,
moved ahead with three of its 12 bipartisan funding bills. By next
week it hopes to pass appropriations for farm programs,
transportation and housing and veterans.
Difficult negotiations by Congress over Biden's request for aid to
Ukraine and more money for border security were anticipated.
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer urged the House to follow his
chamber's bipartisan model.
"In a divided government, the only way we'll fund the government ...
is bipartisanship," Schumer said. "Speaker Johnson will not be able
to ignore the need for bipartisanship."
Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sounded a similar
note, saying, "It's important that my House Republican colleagues
take a government shutdown off the table."
The disagreements between Republicans that have slowed past
dealmaking also remained.
"I don't even want to think of something lasting until January or
April. That would be folly in my opinion," said Representative Andy
Biggs, a prominent hardliner, voicing opposition to the stopgap
funding measures known as continuing resolutions. "If you’re going
to do a CR, it needs to be super short. Why? Because a CR is
cruise-control."
(Reporting by Richard Cowan and David Morgan; Editing by Scott
Malone, Richard Chang, Daniel Wallis and Christian Schmollinger)
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