CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
June 15, 2012 – 10:08 p.m.
Deadlines Put Squeeze on Congress
By Richard E. Cohen and Alan K. Ota, CQ Staff
The House and the Senate return this week facing multiple legislative deadlines but deadlocked on bills to renew surface transportation programs and a student loan interest-rate reduction that need to be cleared by the end of the month.
Lawmakers are also under pressure to send the president a reauthorization of the flood insurance program by the end of July and another extending user fees for the Food and Drug Administration, which expire in September. Proponents are pressing for action now in an effort to keep those issues clear of election year politics.
But the next two weeks will test whether Congress can do anything significant in the supercharged political atmosphere of a presidential election.
“There’s bipartisan support for a deal,” said Sen.
Political tensions make the cooperation and compromise needed to move bills through a divided Congress even more difficult, since each party is trying to distance itself from the other in the minds of voters.
But given the partisan reputation of this Congress, leaders and lawmakers also have a stake in showing voters they can get things done and are not so dysfunctional that a housecleaning is in order.
As they attempt to move major bills on tight deadlines, congressional leaders are facing numerous distractions. The Senate is in the midst of lengthy consideration of a bill to reauthorize agriculture programs that expire Sept. 30, and the House has been working on fiscal 2013 appropriations bills.
Both chambers are carving out time to debate legislation meant to rally voters and each party’s base, including a House vote to direct negotiators on the transportation bill to include a provision limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate coal ash.
Both parties are also preparing legislation to respond to a Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the 2010 health care overhaul (PL 111-148, PL 111-152).
The bills stalled in front of approaching deadlines are measures that previous Congresses have easily completed. After all, voters across the political spectrum welcome roads and other transportation projects that offer tangible benefits to their communities. And millions of students and their parents are glad to save money on interest payments. Neither the user fees nor the flood insurance measures would normally be considered controversial.
Senate Majority Whip
Sen.
The Long Haul
Deadlines Put Squeeze on Congress
Reaching agreement on a transportation measure has been difficult because House Republicans object to additional revenues to pay for highways and transit. They also want to use the bill as a vehicle for provisions to expand oil and gas drilling, mandate approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline and curb federal regulations.
But House Republican leaders are aware of the potential consequences of continuing resistance to an agreement on the highway bill. Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman
Deadlocked talks also pose problems for state and local governments, which would lose vital funding if Congress fails to take action.
Student Loan Rates
The House and the Senate are also at odds over how to pay for an extension of the current 3.4 percent interest rate on subsidized student loans, an offset that Congress has not worried much about in the past.
The debate exposes a fundamental difference between the parties over whether revenue increases should be part of the answer or whether every opportunity should be seized to cut the size of the federal government. So, student loans have become a proxy battle for the debate over spending and taxes.
Both sides continue to insist they want to resolve the student-loan extension by June 30, when the interest rate would double. While an increase to 6.8 percent would not affect existing loans, and Congress could make retroactive changes to avoid added costs for borrowers, the issue affects an estimated 7 million subsidized borrowers, and that poses potential political peril if an agreement is not reached.
Wyoming Sen.
HELP Chairman
FDA User Fee Pact Possible
There are signs that House and Senate negotiators will reach a compromise to reauthorize the FDA’s user fee program.
Lawmakers and aides have been meeting this month to iron out the few remaining differences between the bills (
Last month’s short-term extension of federal flood extension programs (PL 112-123) provided Congress with some breathing room while lawmakers continue work on a longer-term bill (
Deadlines Put Squeeze on Congress
Emily Ethridge contributed to this story.