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Sept. 21, 2011 – 10:51 p.m.

Leaders Regroup After Loss on CR

By Alan K. Ota and Kerry Young, CQ Staff

Congressional leaders are still seeking a way to keep the government running past the end of next week — and replenish dwindling disaster aid accounts — after a conservative revolt scuttled a stopgap bill backed by House Republican leadership.

With the clock ticking before a potential government shutdown at the end of next week, and Congress scheduled to recess on Friday, leaders face tough choices. Once again, the two parties are locked in a showdown over spending, with Republicans demanding cutbacks and offsets for disaster aid and Democrats opposing those moves.

A senior House Republican aide said party leaders were likely to pare spending levels in the continuing resolution (CR) to attract additional support from conservative lawmakers. But leaders had not decided what to do with disaster money that was supposed to hitch a ride on the stopgap, the aide said.

Regardless, trimming the level of spending in the stopgap, which had been tied to caps enacted in the debt limit law (PL 112-25), would likely spark strong opposition from Senate Democrats.

“The problem is the Senate will just send it back to us with a bigger number,” the aide said, referring to efforts to pass a more restrictive CR in the House.

The House voted 195-230 on Wednesday to reject the CR (HR 2608), which would set the total annual spending level for the first weeks of fiscal 2012 at $1.043 trillion, in accordance with the debt limit law. Six Democrats voted in favor of passing the measure and 48 Republicans voted against, most apparently because they regarded the spending as too large.

Many House conservatives had wanted to hold spending closer to the $1.019 trillion level set by the House-adopted budget resolution (H Con Res 34). Conservatives regarded the latest spending bill as a chance to revisit the issue and win further reductions beyond the limits negotiated during the summer as part of the debt limit.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, a top messaging strategist for the Democratic Caucus, said his party would refuse to go along with any legislation that opens up the hard-fought debt agreement.

“That is a nonstarter in the Senate,” Schumer said of lowering the spending level in the CR. “It will not get anywhere.”

House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., made a similar pitch to keep the debt limit spending caps intact. “If Republican leaders bring a bill to the floor that honors the bipartisan agreement from August, they will find it has bipartisan support for passage,” Hoyer said.

Options in House

GOP leaders might move to remove from the bill a controversial provision, championed by Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., that would offset $1 billion in disaster money included in the CR. If they do so, it would constitute an effort to win passage by picking up Democratic votes.

Yet, while that might get the measure through the House, it would risk alienating GOP conservatives and might weaken Cantor’s standing in the caucus.

Leaders Regroup After Loss on CR

Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., who had previously threatened to shut down the Senate over any move to offset disaster money or to limit money for recovery efforts, said she was willing to work toward a solution.

“There are any number of Democrats that would be willing to work with the Republican leadership and negotiate a good, solid continuing resolution with disaster funding,” Landrieu said Wednesday.

The House Rules Committee approved a same-day rule Wednesday night, which would allow leaders to quickly bring up a new spending bill. But Rules Chairman David Dreier of California said no decisions had been made on how to proceed Thursday.

“It’s important for us to make sure we get a continuing resolution passed,” Dreier said. “I think we’ll be able to get her done.”

Dreier said reducing the cost of the CR would also require shortening its duration. The measure the House rejected Wednesday evening would have kept the government operating through Nov. 18, close to the deadline for the new joint deficit reduction committee to complete its work to find $1.2 trillion in additional deficit reduction over the next decade.

Dreier was also noncommittal about separating the stopgap spending from disaster relief money. “We don’t know yet,” he said. “We’ll know by tomorrow.”

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said a push by House GOP leaders to reduce the size of the CR would probably draw support from Republicans in both chambers. “I’m pleased if we can spend less money than that agreement,” he said, referring to the spending goals set in the debt limit deal.

And Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a close adviser to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and a home-state ally of Boehner, said he thought House leaders would opt to trim spending rather than offer carrots to Democrats to get their votes.

“Republicans are going to talk about this. It’s going to be resolved,” Portman said.

Disaster Aid

However the funding level in the CR is resolved, the two parties also have to reconcile differences over disaster spending. The House would have provided $1 billion in fiscal 2011 money for the nation’s Disaster Relief Fund, offsetting that amount with a $1.5 billion cut in an energy-efficient auto program. The CR also would have provided $2.65 billion in fiscal 2012 disaster spending.

Senate Democrats prefer a measure sponsored by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., that would provide $500 million in fiscal 2011 disaster aid, without offsets, and $6.9 billion for fiscal 2012.

Landrieu, the chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee and a leading opponent of the GOP offset, accused Republicans of playing politics at a time when the nation’s Disaster Relief Fund is almost exhausted.

Leaders Regroup After Loss on CR

The fund is down to about $215 million, from the roughly $800 million it held in late August as Hurricane Irene approached the United States. And some lawmakers are concerned that it might run out before a CR would refill its coffers Oct. 1.

“That burn rate is so hot right now,” Landrieu said, referring to the rapid depletion of the fund.

Niels Lesniewski contributed to this story.

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