CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
Sept. 26, 2011 – 11:18 p.m.
Senate Passes Compromise on CR
By Richard E. Cohen, CQ Staff
The Senate moved late Monday to give House Republicans two options to avoid a government shutdown this weekend and put an end to a dispute over offsets to disaster aid money.
House Speaker
Or, the House might consider a separate Senate-passed measure (
The House is scheduled to meet in pro forma session Sept. 29, the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana. House leaders held a conference call with rank-and-file members Monday night, after the Senate acted, to consider their options.
By removing $1 billion in disaster aid for fiscal 2011 that was in the House-passed bill, the Senate averted a standoff with the House over rescinding $1.6 billion for loan guarantees to promote energy efficiency. The rescission was intended to offset the current-year disaster money, and without the fiscal 2011 funds, the offset was no longer needed.
The breakthrough came after FEMA officials said its Disaster Relief Fund had enough money to edge into the new fiscal year.
Boehner and his leadership team consulted with rank-and-file lawmakers over whether to clear a stopgap spending bill by unanimous consent or call the entire House back to the Capitol for what could be a routine vote.
Under House rules, unanimous consent allows a single member on either side of the aisle to object, and thus stymie the deal, although the Speaker wields far more power over recalcitrant lawmakers than do Senate leaders .
The flurry of action Monday came amid increasingly bitter charges between the two parties and the two chambers. And the latest example of political brinkmanship over federal spending, deficit reduction and taxes raised doubts that a joint deficit reduction committee will be able to come up with a bipartisan deal to reduce the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion over the decade.
If that does not happen, a provision in this summer’s debt ceiling law (PL 112-25) means that steep cuts would be provided in domestic discretionary and Pentagon spending.
The series of Senate votes Monday started with a cloture motion on an amendment to the House’s CR by Majority Leader
Immediately after, Reid moved on to a deal that he struck with Minority Leader
Next, the Senate passed by voice vote the separate “clean” stopgap spending measure, using the bill that had carried fiscal 2012 Homeland Security appropriations.
Senate Passes Compromise on CR
That bill, which would keep the government operating through Oct. 4, would serve as an insurance plan if House leaders are unable to win consent from their conference to accept the Senate’s changes to the longer-term funding measure.
Citing a comment from Sen.
McConnell said “this entire fire drill was completely unnecessary.” He added that Republicans were vindicated by the Democrats’ removal of “billions more in emergency funds Democrats have been calling for.”
Instant Criticism
Amid strained relations with the Democrat-controlled Senate, House Republican leaders were less than pleased with the turn of events.
“Washington Democrats attempted to grandstand and delay needed disaster relief to score political points,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said Monday. “Republicans stood firm, and Senate Democrats have conceded that the spending level in the House-passed bill was the most responsible solution. If it weren’t for House GOP efforts, the American taxpayers would have been on the hook for even more reckless borrowing by Washington Democrats.”
House Majority Leader
“It’s surprising that just days after claiming that recent natural disasters required up to $7 billion in immediate funding,
Landrieu, chairwoman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, said Monday’s votes in the Senate should spell an end to the idea of offsetting disaster aid, which she attributed to Cantor.
“The Cantor doctrine has been rejected, and
When asked about FEMA’s new estimates on how long the Disaster Relief Fund could continue to provide assistance, Landrieu said the agency shifted expenses to get through the end of the fiscal year. She noted that FEMA already has taken steps to ration money in the fund.
Issue of Offsets
In a sense, the conflict settled down to a relatively minor issue: whether and how to offset some of the House-passed version’s $3.65 billion in disaster relief funds, a level the Senate deal trimmed to $2.65 billion after shelving the $1 billion from current year disaster funding.
Senate Passes Compromise on CR
The House and Senate had resolved most of the larger issues over spending levels for the rest of the government, although House conservatives are not pleased that both the Senate and House versions set spending at a rate reflecting the $1.043 trillion limit set by the debt limit law, a level that exceeds the $1.019 billion cap set by the budget resolution (
But the dispute quickly moved to the political front-burner — not only because of the possibility of a government shutdown, but also because of the stories of many Americans suffering from recent tornado or flooding damage and in need of aid. Cantor repeatedly accused Reid of “playing politics” by not accepting the House’s plan.
“This is absurd,” said Sen.
But with centrists in short supply, most lawmakers — and especially party leaders — had resorted to political finger-pointing. And lawmakers again found themselves under heavy public criticism, after having returned from the August recess with promises to reduce some of the vitriol that surrounded this summer’s extended debate over increasing the federal debt ceiling.
House Minority Leader
The House still faces decisions on when and how to handle the two continuing resolutions. Leaders must decide whether to deal with them separately or simply to move the measure to extend government spending until Nov. 18, action that would render unnecessary the shorter-term bill. They will have to set a date for House action and decide whether to seek voice-vote approval of at least the short-term measure.
Sen.
So far, the Obama administration does not seem concerned about a potential government shutdown. The Office of Management and Budget is not directing government agencies to begin the serious preparations needed if funds were to be shut off.
“We don’t think anyone wants a government shutdown, which would be highly disruptive and costly to taxpayers,” an OMB spokeswoman said.
Alan K. Ota, Paul M. Krawzak, Kerry Young and Niels Lesniewski contributed to this story.