- Oct 17, 2011
- 33,295
- 36,611
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Atheist
- Marital Status
- Legal Union (Other)
The White House on Thursday urged Congress to adopt a short-term measure to fund the federal government, a move meant to buy time for lawmakers to craft a broader spending deal and avert a shutdown at the end of September.
The GOP demands [to cut spending] mark a sharp break with the deal that party leaders, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), worked out with the president this spring to raise the nation’s debt limit — an agreement that was supposed to prevent another stalemate over spending this fall.
“Although the crucial work continues to reach a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills, it is clear that a short-term continuing resolution (CR) will be needed next month,” a spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget said Thursday.
Even with such a stopgap, though, OMB said some federal accounts would need spending increases. That includes the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, known as WIC, which provides monthly aid to roughly 6.6 million poor families. With food prices still high and program participation on the rise, its existing, roughly $5.69 billion budget is not sufficient to provide benefits at their current level through next fiscal year
The new White House call for [additional WIC] funding stands in stark contrast with the plan put forward by House Republicans, who instead seek to roll back that expansion — which could reduce the amount some WIC recipients receive for fruits and vegetables to about $11 per month.
[Another account in need is FEMA. 'Deanne Criswell, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said its primary disaster-response account had reached a dangerously low balance, now at $3.4 billion.' Early estimates of damage from Hurricane Idalia range from $10 to $20 billion.]
Earlier this month, [House Speaker] McCarthy and his Senate counterpart, Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), each signaled early support for a continuing resolution that might offer lawmakers more time to craft a full-year spending deal.
But conservatives have resisted the idea, once again illustrating how the powerful far-right lot could frustrate any attempt to reach a deal. As lawmakers departed for their annual August recess, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) — a top member of the House Freedom Caucus — pledged on local radio to “use every tool I have at my disposal” to stop a short-term spending deal that doesn’t include conservatives’ priorities.
Note that this inability to smoothly pass spending bills and raise the debt ceiling (largely due to pointless hard-right truculence) is what led to a ratings downgrade of US debt.
The GOP demands [to cut spending] mark a sharp break with the deal that party leaders, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), worked out with the president this spring to raise the nation’s debt limit — an agreement that was supposed to prevent another stalemate over spending this fall.
“Although the crucial work continues to reach a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills, it is clear that a short-term continuing resolution (CR) will be needed next month,” a spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget said Thursday.
Even with such a stopgap, though, OMB said some federal accounts would need spending increases. That includes the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, known as WIC, which provides monthly aid to roughly 6.6 million poor families. With food prices still high and program participation on the rise, its existing, roughly $5.69 billion budget is not sufficient to provide benefits at their current level through next fiscal year
The new White House call for [additional WIC] funding stands in stark contrast with the plan put forward by House Republicans, who instead seek to roll back that expansion — which could reduce the amount some WIC recipients receive for fruits and vegetables to about $11 per month.
[Another account in need is FEMA. 'Deanne Criswell, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said its primary disaster-response account had reached a dangerously low balance, now at $3.4 billion.' Early estimates of damage from Hurricane Idalia range from $10 to $20 billion.]
Earlier this month, [House Speaker] McCarthy and his Senate counterpart, Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), each signaled early support for a continuing resolution that might offer lawmakers more time to craft a full-year spending deal.
But conservatives have resisted the idea, once again illustrating how the powerful far-right lot could frustrate any attempt to reach a deal. As lawmakers departed for their annual August recess, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) — a top member of the House Freedom Caucus — pledged on local radio to “use every tool I have at my disposal” to stop a short-term spending deal that doesn’t include conservatives’ priorities.
Note that this inability to smoothly pass spending bills and raise the debt ceiling (largely due to pointless hard-right truculence) is what led to a ratings downgrade of US debt.
