With no appropriations bill in sight, House GOP keeps kicking the can (otherwise government shutdown Oct 1st...Nov 17th...JanFeb...March...)

[Brihaha]

So all this fear-mongering (again) about a govt. shutdown is still a giant nuthingburger.

The nothingburger is the motley crew of radicals in the House whom voters have saddled us with in America. Ignorance and tribalism is detrimental for our country.

 

[essentialsaltes]

U.S. debt in danger of downgrade by Moody’s as shutdown looms​

Moody’s Investors Service on Friday put the U.S. government’s pristine credit rating on a negative outlook, raising the possibility of another downgrade of American debt.

The warning comes as the government teeters on the brink of another shutdown next week and follows a move by Fitch ratings service just a few months ago to downgrade U.S. debt.

 

[essentialsaltes]

House GOP pursuing two-step plan to avert government shutdown (with funding at current levels into next year)​

While Johnson embraced the right wing of his conference by pitching the two-step approach, he didn’t fully cave to their wishes. The package does not include the deep spending cuts that his right flank pushed for but instead extends funding at its current levels.

The first bill would extend funding until January 19 and would include military construction, Veterans Affairs, transportation and housing as well as the Energy Department. The second part of the bill, which would extend funding until February 2, would include funding for the rest of the government.

Neither bill includes additional aid for Israel or Ukraine.

Republican Chip Roy says he's a No.

 

[essentialsaltes]

House to vote on GOP plan to avert government shutdown​

Johnson is seeking to pass the bill under suspension of the rules. That maneuver requires two-thirds support from the House, meaning Republicans will need help from Democrats. Johnson chose this path because of expected GOP defections on a procedural vote.

“The House Freedom Caucus opposes the ‘clean’ Continuing Resolution as it contains no spending reductions, no border security, and not a single meaningful win for the American people,” the group said in a statement.

--

Since it is clean, it should get Democratic support in the House and Senate. But it's another can-kicking and we still don't know what the House Republicans' actual budget plan might someday be.

 

[essentialsaltes]

House to vote on GOP plan to avert government shutdown​

The House passed Speaker Mike Johnson's funding bill to avert a government shutdown.

It passed on a bipartisan basis by a vote of 336 to 95 – with 209 of the votes coming from Democrats.

The bill was opposed by 93 Republicans and two Democrats.

[Now to the Senate]

 

[Green Sun]

House to vote on GOP plan to avert government shutdown​

Johnson is seeking to pass the bill under suspension of the rules. That maneuver requires two-thirds support from the House, meaning Republicans will need help from Democrats. Johnson chose this path because of expected GOP defections on a procedural vote.

“The House Freedom Caucus opposes the ‘clean’ Continuing Resolution as it contains no spending reductions, no border security, and not a single meaningful win for the American people,” the group said in a statement.

--

Since it is clean, it should get Democratic support in the House and Senate. But it's another can-kicking and we still don't know what the House Republicans' actual budget plan might someday be.

Curious to see if we have a repeat of what happened to McCarthy. Is the threshold to start the removal process still 1?

 

[Arcangl86]

Curious to see if we have a repeat of what happened to McCarthy. Is the threshold to start the removal process still 1?

Yes because that was set by House rules and the Rules haven't been changed yet.

 

[essentialsaltes]

NOW: The Senate has passed the House's stop-gap spending bill​

The Senate has passed a stop-gap spending bill to keep the government funded and avert a shutdown at the end of the week.
The vote was 87 to 11.
It will next go to President Joe Biden to be signed. [He has indicated he will.]

 

[essentialsaltes]

Per Lisa Desjardin of the PBS NewsHour:

@SenMullin says @SpeakerJohnson told them that if approps aren’t done by Jan/Feb deadline then House will have to pass a CR-type bill for the rest of the year (until Oct.). That they can’t do another shorter-term.

Also another sign Johnson will not go to a shutdown.

Kicking the can all the way to the next election wouldn't show much leadership, but it would prevent the GOP from having to own a shutdown.

 

[essentialsaltes]

House Freedom Caucus Blinks

Hard-right backtrack on spending levels leaves sour taste for colleagues​

Under a sweltering July heat outside the Capitol, members of the House Freedom Caucus devoted a half-hour news conference to lambasting their Republican colleagues for supporting a bipartisan debt ceiling deal that they argued did nothing to curb spending or the deficit.

Months earlier, House Republicans had passed a Freedom Caucus-approved proposal that would have forced Congress to slash $350 billion in spending with a cap of $1.471 trillion for the 2024 fiscal year. But the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act deal struck by President Biden and then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), which passed both chambers with overwhelming bipartisan support, codified a higher top-line number of $1.59 trillion.

Four months, two House speakers and two averted government shutdowns later, the Freedom Caucus abruptly announced on Wednesday that the staunch defense of the lower spending cap had evaporated for most members. They now supported the $1.59 trillion level after months of defying their Republican colleagues

“We were in meetings that were hours long debating that $1.471 [trillion] number where they said we’d never go up to $1.59 [trillion],” a vulnerable Republican said about Freedom Caucus colleagues. “I’m glad we got there but my gosh, why? Why do this? We wasted 10 weeks here for what?”

“What this goes to show is that everything that’s been happening over the last few months is based entirely on ignorance or lack of information or understanding,” said [a] McCarthy ally, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal party tensions, about the far-right flank. “They’re just a bunch of idiots.”

 

[Pommer]

House Freedom Caucus Blinks

Hard-right backtrack on spending levels leaves sour taste for colleagues​

Under a sweltering July heat outside the Capitol, members of the House Freedom Caucus devoted a half-hour news conference to lambasting their Republican colleagues for supporting a bipartisan debt ceiling deal that they argued did nothing to curb spending or the deficit.

Months earlier, House Republicans had passed a Freedom Caucus-approved proposal that would have forced Congress to slash $350 billion in spending with a cap of $1.471 trillion for the 2024 fiscal year. But the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act deal struck by President Biden and then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), which passed both chambers with overwhelming bipartisan support, codified a higher top-line number of $1.59 trillion.

Four months, two House speakers and two averted government shutdowns later, the Freedom Caucus abruptly announced on Wednesday that the staunch defense of the lower spending cap had evaporated for most members. They now supported the $1.59 trillion level after months of defying their Republican colleagues

“We were in meetings that were hours long debating that $1.471 [trillion] number where they said we’d never go up to $1.59 [trillion],” a vulnerable Republican said about Freedom Caucus colleagues. “I’m glad we got there but my gosh, why? Why do this? We wasted 10 weeks here for what?”

“What this goes to show is that everything that’s been happening over the last few months is based entirely on ignorance or lack of information or understanding,” said [a] McCarthy ally, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal party tensions, about the far-right flank. “They’re just a bunch of idiots.”

Politics is an art.
Oh sure, “paint by numbers” is technically “art” too; but Sam Rayburn didn’t get buildings named after him because he had the brightest #17.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Top lawmakers drop abortion limits from defense bill, setting up fight with the far right​

Dropping abortion limits and extending surveillance authorities will make the bill a tough sell among conservatives.

A compromise defense policy bill unveiled late Wednesday will not include a Republican-backed proposal to block the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy, nixing a controversial measure that threatened to tank the legislation.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Freedom Caucus issues series of demands on year-end legislation in ‘Policy Festivus’ [yes, really]​

The House Freedom Caucus is voicing its displeasure with how a slew of end-of-year legislative priorities are being handled by congressional leaders and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), warning that its members are prepared to vote against legislation that does not meet its standards.

An official position statement released Friday from the hard-line conservative group, which consists of around three dozen members, ran through demands on reauthorization of foreign surveillance powers; the annual bill authorizing Defense programs; overall government funding and appropriations; and border policy concessions in exchange for additional funding to Ukraine.

In a nod to the “Festivus” holiday invented by the sitcom “Seinfeld” that consists of publicly airing grievances, the group called the statement a “Policy Festivus.”

 

[essentialsaltes]

Top lawmakers drop abortion limits from defense bill, setting up fight with the far right​

Dropping abortion limits and extending surveillance authorities will make the bill a tough sell among conservatives.

A compromise defense policy bill unveiled late Wednesday will not include a Republican-backed proposal to block the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy, nixing a controversial measure that threatened to tank the legislation.

House passes defense policy bill void of most GOP culture-war demands​

The $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was approved by a vote of 310-118, having passed the Senate with overwhelming approval on Wednesday night. It now proceeds to President Biden, who is expected to sign the legislation into law.

The compromise bill approved Thursday is void of nearly all of the hard right’s culture-war provisions — including a measure that would have barred the Defense Department from reimbursing the travel costs of U.S. service members who travel out of state to obtain an abortion.

“A vote for this bill is a perpetuation of the woke policies undermining our military, bringing down the morale driving down recruiting and now undermining the civil liberties of the American people,” Rep. Chip Roy

With this NDAA conference report you almost feel like a parent who’s sent a child off to summer camp, and they’ve come back a monster,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz

One Republican Senate aide said Wednesday that House hard-liners’ insistence on ramming through a deeply conservative House version of the NDAA along party lines had dealt a blow to Republicans leverage in the negotiations over the final legislation, despite Republicans’ control of the House.

 

[essentialsaltes]

House GOP pursuing two-step plan to avert government shutdown (with funding at current levels into next year)​

The first bill would extend funding until January 19 and would include military construction, Veterans Affairs, transportation and housing as well as the Energy Department.

The House has closed for the holidays, and will reconvene January 9th, leaving 8 working days until the first shutdown deadline.

In related non-news...

Opinion: Worst. Congress. Ever.​

It seems probable that no Congress in American history has spent so much time accomplishing so little as this one.

What do House Republicans have to show the voters for their year in power? A bipartisan debt deal (on which they promptly reneged) to avoid a default crisis that they themselves created. A pair of temporary spending bills (both passed with mostly Democratic votes) to avert a government-shutdown crisis that they themselves created. The ouster of their speaker, nearly a month-long shutdown of the chamber as they sought another, and the expulsion of one of their members, who is now negotiating himself a plea deal.

Among the 22 bills in 2023 that became law as of this week was landmark legislation such as: [naming buildings after people] Also, H.R. 5110, the “Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act,” which authorizes federal education funds “to purchase or use dangerous weapons” for instruction. [and let's not forget the Duck Stamp Modernization Act of 2023, which cleared Congress this week, but has yet to be signed by the President]

On Thursday, the House, exhausted from its labors, recessed for a three-week vacation, leaving behind a pile of urgent, unfinished business, including funds to arm Ukraine and fortify the southern border.

 

[essentialsaltes]

The House has closed for the holidays, and will reconvene January 9th, leaving 8 working days until the first shutdown deadline.

A few GOP Congresscritters are back early to get some important work done. That's right! Finger-Pointing and Recriminations!

House Republicans stew over members who caused upheaval​

House Republicans are stewing over a lack of consequences for those in their ranks who were at the center of much of the internal upheaval that dominated last year — and bemoaning incentives that some worry reward being loud over being substantive.

“For a body that creates laws for the American people to live by, Congress lives in a lawless society to where members can do whatever they would like that goes against conference rules, and still have the ability to maintain the committee assignments — to still get, you know, whether it’s fundraising or extra dollars from leaders wherever it may be,” Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) said.

And in the weeks that followed [McCarthy's ouster], actions on the House floor showed that some Republicans, having just gone through a historic Speaker fight, still had no fear of upending their party’s schedule or plans.

[Hard-line conservatives torpedoed votes on must-pass spending bills if their aggressive amendments were not considered by their colleagues.] [Sentence reordered to better show cause and effect, cause less damage to the English language.]

Another one of the eight lawmakers who voted to oust McCarthy, Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), has been elevated to be the chair of the House Freedom Caucus

[Good said] before the holiday break that Republicans have to be “willing to withstand a potential partial government shutdown to try to force the Democrats to negotiate.”

 

[essentialsaltes]

Congressional budget gridlock leads to stunning NASA layoffs​

At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a Mars rover mission is forced to go into low gear​

Citing funding uncertainties and the failure of Congress to pass a 2024 budget, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is operated under contract by Caltech, on Tuesday announced that it is laying off 8 percent of its workforce, about 530 people, plus another 40 contractors.

“Today I’m writing to share some difficult news,” JPL director Laurie Leshin wrote in a grim memo to employees Tuesday. “While we still do not have an FY24 appropriation or the final word from Congress on our Mars Sample Return (MSR) budget allocation, we are now in a position where we must take further significant action to reduce our spending, which will result in layoffs of JPL employees and an additional release of contractors.”

 

[Brihaha]

Congressional budget gridlock leads to stunning NASA layoffs​

At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a Mars rover mission is forced to go into low gear​

Citing funding uncertainties and the failure of Congress to pass a 2024 budget, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is operated under contract by Caltech, on Tuesday announced that it is laying off 8 percent of its workforce, about 530 people, plus another 40 contractors.

“Today I’m writing to share some difficult news,” JPL director Laurie Leshin wrote in a grim memo to employees Tuesday. “While we still do not have an FY24 appropriation or the final word from Congress on our Mars Sample Return (MSR) budget allocation, we are now in a position where we must take further significant action to reduce our spending, which will result in layoffs of JPL employees and an additional release of contractors.”

Congress is full of saboteurs now. This neglect is intentional in my view. Added to the incompetence factor it seems amazing that President Biden was able to minimize the damage from the prior administration so effectively. Obstruction is the sole platform for some of these members of congress.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Johnson sends House home with huge to-do list and little progress to avoid government shutdown

The House adjourned for its recess one day early amid disagreements over national security legislation, leaving town with a mounting to-do list and a government shutdown deadline just two weeks away.

Lawmakers left the Capitol on Thursday afternoon without making progress on several pieces of legislation the House initially scheduled to consider this week. The lower chamber is not scheduled to return until Feb. 28, just days [thank you leap day!] before the federal government is set to enter a partial shutdown on March 1.

 

[Hans Blaster]

If this were a normal Congress, they could come back and fairly easily pass a 1-week extension for the parts that run out of funding on March 1st, but it ain't.

Perhaps the normal route of a suspension vote in the House would work. (Suspending the rules and passing with 2/3 of the votes.) That would only require a couple hours. If too many in the GOP House would object, then they'll need to go through the Rules Committee where the Speaker might need Democrats to vote for the rule (votes on rules for debate are almost always 100% partisan, even in normal times) given the number of freedom caucus members jammed in to the committee as part of the "elect Kevin" deal last January.

In the Senate it is unlikely* to have the cloture waived to a straight vote on passage so expect a motion to proceed (with cloture) and cloture on the bill itself. This is mostly the same thing that kept the Senate in session all of last weekend except that in that case there was also an amendment (with cloture) to deal with. It would not surprise me if the Senate works through the weekend to reopen the parts of the government that closed on the night of Friday March 1st.

*With obstructionist/libertarians like Mike Lee and Rand Paul in the Senate plus Texas podcaster Ted Cruz who has already shut down the government during the Obama admin, it would seem unlikely that even a 1-week, half-of-government extension could flow easily through the Senate. Sigh.