Government Shutdown

Reid: Obama Will Call House Back From Recess If Necessary Over Shutdown Fight

Brian Beutler | September 23, 2011, 2:55PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) with Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Charles Schumer (D-NY)

Harry Reid has an offer for John Boehner and Senate Republicans to keep FEMA's disaster relief efforts funded and avoid a government shutdown. It goes like this: Democrats will accept the House GOP's lower funding total disaster aid, if Republicans drop the extraordinary demand that funding recovery from natural disasters be offset with partisan budget cuts.

Republicans now say the only way to keep the entire government funded after September 30 is if Democrats agree to slash a successful manufacturing program to pay for disaster aid included in the House's federal funding bill.

Speaking for his caucus at a Friday press conference, Reid categorically rejected the idea disaster aid should be offset. After the Senate rejected that proposal on a bipartisan basis, Reid urged Boehner to sit down with himself, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to review his offer, in the hope of avoiding a government shutdown. And he said if House Republicans continue intransigently to demand that the Senate swallow their bill, President Obama will call the House back into session from its week-long recess.

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Government Shutdown

Cram It! Senate Dems And Republicans Reject Holding Disaster Aid Hostage

Brian Beutler | September 23, 2011, 12:50PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

By a bipartisan vote of 59-36 Friday, Senate Democrats and several Republicans tabled (read: effectively killed) House-passed legislation to fund the federal government beyond September 30. The development escalates a new round of brinkmanship with disaster aid for FEMA and a government shutdown at stake.

Democrats are enraged by a provision of the GOP legislation, which holds disaster aid hostage to partisan budget cuts.

They're also unhappy with the amount of disaster relief money House Republicans included in their bill. Last week, the Senate passed legislation on a bipartisan basis that provided FEMA about twice as much disaster aid as the House bill, without requiring any offsets.

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Government Shutdown

CRUNCH TIME: House GOP Jams Senate With Government Funding Bill, Partisan Budget Cuts For Disaster Aid

Brian Beutler | September 23, 2011, 12:14AM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

House Republicans closed ranks just after midnight on Friday morning, and passed legislation to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month. The vote tally was 219-203.

But the bill received almost no Democratic support and faces an uncertain future in the U.S. Senate because Republicans have used the funding bill as a vehicle for disaster relief money, and insisted it be paid for by slashing funds for jobs programs Democrats support. Dems say the GOP legislation provides insufficient aid, and sets a dangerous precedent by requiring those funds to be offset with partisan budget cuts.

"The bill the House will vote on tonight is not an honest effort at compromise," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in a statement anticipating its passage. "It fails to provide the relief that our fellow Americans need as they struggle to rebuild their lives in the wake of floods, wildfires and hurricanes, and it will be rejected by the Senate."

A livid Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) told reporters Thursday night "We're fed up with this...we're sick of it, we're tired of it."

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Government Shutdown

GOP Ups Ante Big Time In Government Shutdown Fight

Brian Beutler | September 22, 2011, 5:49PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

We should know tonight whether Congress is in genuinely the throes of another government shutdown fight, or whether Democrats and Republicans will figure out a way to avoid their impulses.

Instead of cutting a deal with Democrats to keep the government funded, and re-up FEMA's disaster aid fund, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is trying to build support by dangling carrots before reluctant Republicans and whacking Democrats with sticks.

As reported, about four dozen House conservatives don't support the existing government funding bill or "continuing resolution" because it does not, in their minds, slash enough money from federal programs. Democrats oppose the bill en masse because it also includes a requirement that federal disaster aid be twinned with cuts to particular federal programs, in order to offset the cost -- a highly unusual, and controversial requirement

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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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Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi: Super Committee Doing A Disservice If It Doesn't Consider Employment Impact Of Its Deficit Plan

Brian Beutler | September 22, 2011, 3:16PM

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Members of the Super Committee might be reluctant. But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) -- who's a close ally of three Democrats on the panel -- says they would be doing a disservice to advance deficit reducing legislation without knowing its impact on economic growth.

"What the possibility is, of taking every initiative and passing it through the CBO for its job creating potential I think is a great idea," Pelosi said at her weekly Capitol briefing Thursday. "I don't know why anybody would want to make a judgment without that evaluation, especially at this time."

Pelosi noted that Democrats insisted that the panel focus on employment -- and the committee's rules reflect that to some extent.

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Government Shutdown

House Dems Whip Against GOP Government Funding Bill Over Disaster Relief

Brian Beutler | September 21, 2011, 2:21PM

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

House Dem leadership is urging all caucus members to oppose the Republican legislation to continue funding the government past September 30 on the grounds that it cuts a popular manufacturing program to pay for federal disaster aid.

"Democratic Members are urged to vote NO on the previous question and the bill -- as disasters are an emergency and we should not have to cut good-paying American jobs to provide essential disaster relief for families, small businesses, and communities," reads a memo from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's office.

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John Boehner

Shutdown Chances Increase Over Disaster Relief, Program Cut Disputes

Brian Beutler | September 15, 2011, 5:43PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Two separate but related Republican efforts are increasing the odds that the government will shut down at the end of September, despite repeated assurances from both GOP and Democratic leaders that neither party has an appetite for another round of brinksmanship.

In a Thursday letter, over 50 House Republicans, led by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), pushed Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to make steep cuts to discretionary spending in the next fiscal year, reneging on the agreement the parties struck to resolve the debt limit standoff. That legislation set a cap on discretionary spending at $1.043 trillion and both Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) are committed to funding the government at that level for the coming year.

But many House conservatives want to go lower, and if they defect then House Democrats will have to pitch in to make sure it passes and avert a shut down.

There's just one problem.

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Barack Obama

Pelosi: Dem Opposition To Obama Jobs Plan Trivial

Brian Beutler | September 15, 2011, 12:25PM

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Thursday said Democrats overwhelmingly support President Obama's jobs bill, despite opposition from a handful of loud party conservatives.

"Let me just say that what you're suggesting is anecdotal. ... the plural of anecdote is not data," Pelosi said in response to TPM's question at her weekly Capitol press conference. "Our caucus is very unified in support of the American Jobs Act and the fact that it is paid for. It may differ with some provisions within it, or the pay-fors, but they do not differ in the fact that we must get behind it."

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