UNITED STATES: This week, the U.S. House of Representatives, controlled by Republicans, and the Senate, led by Democrats, will begin vying for an advantage in a battle over spending that has the potential to result in a government shutdown only months after Congress narrowly averted a default.
Some staunch Republicans are pushing their leader, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, to reduce budgets even further than what he and Democratic President Joe Biden had previously agreed upon just over a month ago.
Meanwhile, Senate appropriators are seeking bipartisan agreements. All of these factors indicate challenging negotiations ahead as Congress reconvenes following a two-week July 4 recess.
Lawmakers anticipate that a range of contentious issues, such as abortion and transgender rights, will be brought up during debates, adding further complexity to the situation.
If an agreement on the budget is not reached before the start of the next fiscal year on October 1, the United States could face its fourth partial government shutdown in ten years.
“July is going to have a lot of late-night votes and a lot of really big issues being tackled,” said Steve Scalise, House Majority Leader and the chamber’s No. 2 Republican, in an interview. “Start the appropriations process; get the Senate moving on appropriations bills. I think that alone would be a victory.”
House Republicans are striving to create a comprehensive set of 12 meticulous spending bills that encompass various areas of government funding.
This task presents a complex challenge, as Congress has not successfully accomplished it since fiscal 1997. In the previous year, all 12 bills, amounting to $1.7 trillion, were consolidated into a single, all-encompassing “omnibus” bill.
Meanwhile, Senate negotiators, who had a limited role in recent discussions between House Republicans and the White House regarding the federal government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, are currently working on bills that are gaining robust bipartisan support.
Democratic Senator Patty Murray and Republican Senator Susan Collins declared in a joint statement that they were “determined to continue working together in a bipartisan manner to craft serious funding bills that can be signed into law.”
The House is currently under Republican control, with a slim majority of 222-212, while the Senate holds a razor-thin 51-49 Democratic majority. This delicate balance necessitates bipartisan support for any legislation to be enacted into law.
There is a disagreement between the leaders of the two chambers regarding the spending targets they aim to achieve.
While Senate negotiators intend to stick to the $1.59 trillion discretionary spending target agreed upon by President Biden and Representative McCarthy in May, House Republicans have voted for a lower target of $1.47 trillion. This lower target would involve cuts to spending in areas such as the environment, public assistance, and foreign aid.
Representative Dusty Johnson, who chairs the Main Street Caucus, which consists of over 70 Republicans, said House Republicans really are committed to shrinking spending. Not everyone in the Senate agrees with that approach. That has been the source of a little bit of tension to date, and I think that has the potential to grow.
Spending is just one potential flashpoint. Additionally, House Republicans are attempting to exploit the bill to roll back important Biden initiatives in areas like tax collection and climate change.
Additionally, they want to change or repeal some of the policies that Democrats have fought for, such as those that protect transgender people, women’s access to abortion, and workplace diversity.
In a statement to the media on Friday, Democratic Representative Rosa DeLauro said, “I am ready to end this charade of considering extreme Republican funding bills and join my colleagues in both chambers and on both sides of the aisle in working towards a final agreement” on government spending for the coming year.
Failure to reach an agreement on appropriations could result in a partial government shutdown lasting into the autumn and winter seasons.
This could significantly disrupt various federal activities, such as air traffic control, military pay increases, and the operation of national parks.
Although some members of the hardline Republican House Freedom Caucus, comprising around three dozen individuals, have previously expressed support for a government shutdown,
But Representative David Joyce, who leads the Republican Governance Group (RG2), a more moderate faction consisting of 42 lawmakers focused on House governance, has a different perspective.
Joyce suggests that it might be possible to reach a short-term funding deal to ensure the continuity of government operations while negotiations continue into the fall.
“I’m not a big fan at all of shutdowns, and I don’t think anybody in RG2 or our groups is really thinking about that. We’re trying to figure out how to make things work,” Joyce said.
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