FEMA

FEMA In GOP Crosshairs For...Avoiding A Shutdown?

Brian Beutler | October 12, 2011, 2:07PM

Representative Hal Rogers (R-KY)

Congressional Republicans haven't gotten over the last government shutdown fight -- perhaps because it wasn't a clear win. They're probing FEMA's accounting practices in the last week of September, suggesting the agency manipulated its disaster relief fund to help Democrats avoid a political fight with Republicans. But FEMA officials were on the record, both publicly and in private briefings with members of both parties, about the tools they were using to keep themselves in the black through the fiscal year. So what's this really all about?

Recall that the September government shutdown fight centered on the GOP's demand that there should be matching budget cuts to make up for funneling emergency money to FEMA's disaster relief fund.

FEMA originally expected the account to be drained a few days before the end of the fiscal year on September 30. To keep its operations across the country in motion Congress was prepared to appropriate the agency $1 billion in bridge money to carry it into October...except for that pesky disagreement about offsets! Republicans insisted on paying for it by nixing a popular and effective hybrid vehicle incentive. Democrats refused, both on principle and because the specific manufacturing program on the chopping block was a successful one. Neither party was prepared to cave. But with the deadline only days away, FEMA moved aggressively to shore up its fund and announced it could get by without any emergency help from Congress and the shutdown was averted.

Republicans say something fishy was going on.

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Budget

Key GOP Budget Cutter Exempts District From Belt-Tightening

Susan Crabtree | October 3, 2011, 5:55AM

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY)

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) just can't seem to stick to his new diet goal of abstaining from steering millions of federal dollars to his cash-strapped district.

Earlier this year, the chairman of the top House spending panel who made a career out of earmarking millions of dollars to district pet projects, joined the GOP budget austerity movement spurred by the Tea Party-fueled GOP takeover of the House.

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FEMA

How Congress Could End Up In Another Fight Over Cutting Programs For Disaster Aid

Brian Beutler | September 28, 2011, 6:00AM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

The government won't shut down this week over a dispute between Republicans and Democrats over whether emergency supplemental funds to support disaster relief should be offset with budget cuts.

And when the new fiscal year starts October 1, disaster relief funds will not need to be offset pursuant to an agreement the parties struck as part of the August debt ceiling deal. That's why the $2.65 billion for FEMA's disaster relief fund the Senate just passed didn't have to be offset, and the House is expected to pass the same bill without putting up another fight.

But what happens if things get really bad: if assessments of damage from Hurricane Irene and the fires in Texas turn out to be much worse than expected, or if another unforeseen disaster strikes a major city. Does the debt ceiling deal provide an unlimited guarantee that House Republicans won't try once again to pair disaster funding with partisan budget cuts?

The answer is no.

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Government Shutdown

Dems Float Resolution To Government Shutdown Fight

Brian Beutler | September 26, 2011, 4:42PM

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y.

The food fight between the parties continues. But Democrats see a way out of the latest government shutdown fight -- it's just a question of timing, and, of course, Republican cooperation.

Earlier Monday, we learned that FEMA's disaster relief fund had a bit more money in it than officials expected it would late last week. It's possible, even, that the agency will be able to make it through September 30 (the end of the fiscal year) without needing an emergency cash injection.

If it can, then the grounds for this fight disappear. Here's why:

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Government Shutdown

Republicans To Go It Alone On Government Funding, Disaster Aid Offsets

Brian Beutler | September 22, 2011, 4:10PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Looks like House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) will try to close GOP ranks around existing legislation to fund the government rather than scrap a controversial requirement that disaster relief funds be offset with an unrelated budget cut. And that means they'll be moving ahead without Democratic support -- a risky gamble that could lead to a government shutdown if it fails.

"The Speaker's seeking more Republican votes," Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who led a House conservative rebellion on Wednesday, told reporters after an impromptu Thursday GOP meeting.

According to other Republicans, Boehner will swap out the existing disaster relief offset -- a hybrid vehicle manufacturing incentive -- with new cuts.

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Government Shutdown

Top Republicans: There Is No Budget Deal

Brian Beutler | April 4, 2011, 4:12PM

President Barack Obama meets with Democratic and Republican leaders

Negotiations between congressional Democrats, Republicans and the White House to avoid a government shutdown took a turn for the worse Monday, as top Republicans issued coordinated statements calling Democrats' spending cut goals too low, and preemptively blaming them if the Friday deadline passes without a deal.

"Despite attempts by Democrats to lock in a number among themselves, I've made clear that their $33 billion is not enough and many of the cuts that the White House and Senate Democrats are talking about are full of smoke and mirrors," said House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). "That's unacceptable. ... If the government shuts down, it will be because Senate Democrats failed to do their job."

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Government Shutdown

Schumer: Dems Didn't Get Rolled In Spending Fight

Brian Beutler | April 1, 2011, 9:35AM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

In a phone interview Thursday evening, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) preemptively struck back against the idea, pushed by some Republicans, that Democrats got rolled in the spending cut fight.

"The total number of cuts has never been as important as where the cuts come from," Schumer told TPM. "We've made good headway in getting some of their most reckless cuts off the table."

The pushback comes as Democrats and Republicans work toward a six-month agreement to fund the government that will cut over $30 billion in current spending. That's significantly less than the $61 billion the Republican House passed. But it's also just about the same number the House GOP leadership originally endorsed.

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Spending

House Republicans Unveil Specific Cut Proposal

Brian Beutler | February 11, 2011, 7:39PM

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) with members of the Republican House leadership

As advertised, House Republicans late Friday unveiled a legislative proposal to cut discretionary spending by billions of dollars starting next month, through the end of the fiscal year in September.

You can download a summary of the proposed cuts here (PDF). These numbers could grow more severe during a spending debate on the House floor next week. Even if they don't, House Republicans face stiff opposition from the Democratically controlled Senate, which will demand the proposal be scaled back.

Reaching an agreement that satisfies both chambers and the White House could easily drag past March 4, when current funding for the federal government expires. If it does, Congress would either have to pass a short-term extension of current funding, or touch off a government shutdown.

Hal Rogers

Under Pressure From Conservative Members, GOP To Slash More Spending

Brian Beutler | February 10, 2011, 1:53PM

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY)

After catching heat from rank and file conservative members for not proposing enough spending cuts, Republican leaders want a do-over.

House appropriators have delayed until at least Friday the introduction of new spending legislation, to cut deeper than they'd originally planned.

"After meeting with my subcommittee Chairs, we have determined that the [spending resolution] can and will reach a total of $100 billion in cuts compared to the President's request immediately -- fully meeting the goal outlined in the Republican 'Pledge to America' in one fell swoop," said Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) in a statement to reporters Thursday. "Our intent is to make deep but manageable cuts in nearly every area of government, leaving no stone unturned and allowing no agency or program to be held sacred. I have instructed my committee to include these deeper cuts, and we are continuing to work to complete this critical legislation."

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Spending

Republicans Press Boehner Not To Get Squeamish On Spending Cuts

Brian Beutler | January 20, 2011, 5:12PM

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and John Boehner (R-OH).

Rank and file Republicans aren't happy with House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI). They think the GOP should take a hatchet to the federal budget now, to make good on their pledge to slash spending by $100 billion "this year." And their displeasure is spilling out into the open.

"Despite the added challenge of being four months into the current fiscal year, we still must keep our $100 billion pledge to the American people," reads a draft of a letter to Boehner, obtained by TPM, being circulated by the Republican Study Committee. "These $100 billion in cuts to non-security discretionary spending not only ensure that we keep our word to the American people; they represent a credible down payment on the fiscally responsible measures that will be needed to get the nation's finances back on track."

The problem, as Boehner and Ryan have explained, is that they won't even get a whack at the budget until March, when the government's current spending authority expires. By then it will only be six months until the end of the fiscal year in September, and they're having a hard time squeezing a year's worth of promised cuts through a half-year window.

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Republicans

Meet The Chairmen! House GOPers Get Back To The Gavels

Eric Kleefeld | December 10, 2010, 8:40AM

The Republicans' midterm sweep in the House of Representatives doesn't just mean that John Boehner will become Speaker -- it means a drastic shift of leadership and legislative priorities throughout the whole chamber.

This week, House Republicans officially rolled out the list of committee chairs in the new Congress. And as can be expected, some of them are really interesting personalities. It is these individuals who will be holding hearings on legislation and oversight of the executive branch -- that is, attacking the Obama administration and trying to dig up scandals, as typically occurs during periods of divided government.

So let's take a look at several of the key GOPers who will be heading up these important House panels: Their backgrounds, their positions, their histories -- and a few gaffes, too.

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Hal Rogers

New GOP Approps Chair Rogers Was 'Porker Of The Month' In August

Brian Beutler | December 8, 2010, 2:29PM

Representative Hal Rogers (R-KY)

Yesterday, House Republicans dealt the Tea Party and conservative advocacy groups a blow by electing Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) to chair the powerful Appropriations Committee next year.

Rogers is a famous earmarker, and a lot of critics see this as a harbinger that the GOP earmark ban might not be as ironclad as they'd like folks to believe. But just how much earmarking did Rogers really do? Enough to be named "Porker of the Month" by an anti-pork pressure group just four months ago.

Citizens Against Government Waste saddled Rogers with the award for "sponsoring legislation that could give federal funding to his daughter's nonprofit organization, which promotes overseas wildlife protection for cheetahs."

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