by Jonathan D. Salant The New Haven independent
WASHINGTON — Take it or leave it, House Republicans told their Democratic counterparts on Friday when they called for a vote on a GOP-written spending bill to keep the federal government open.
The Democrats left it. Every Democratic senator and representative but two voted Friday against legislation to keep the federal government open past Sept. 30.
House Republicans passed the measure, but it failed to get the 60 votes needed to clear the Senate, thus bringing the federal government closer to a possible shutdown on Oct. 1.
“Republicans choose a partisan route,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee that writes the legislation funding the government, during debate on the House floor.
“They would rather shut down the government than sit down and talk about lowering costs for millions of Americans, preventing people from getting kicked off their health care, and stopping President Trump and Budget Director Russ Vought from stealing from our communities and from our constituents,” said DeLauro, Democrat of New Haven.
Vought has said that the spending bills needed to be more partisan and President Donald Trump told the Republicans in a Fox News interview to ignore the Democrats altogether. “Don’t even bother dealing with them,” he said.
But 60 votes are needed in the Senate, and Republicans hold only 53 seats. That means Democratic votes are needed, and DeLauro and her fellow party members are using the limited power they do have in a Republican-controlled Congress to demand that some of their priorities are included in the final spending bill.
“We invite Republican leadership to finally join Democratic leadership at the negotiating table, which they have refused for weeks to do, to prevent a shutdown and begin bipartisan negotiations to keep the government funded,” said DeLauro and her counterpart. Senate Appropriations Committee vice chair Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington.
What happens next remains to be seen. Neither chamber is scheduled to be in session next week due to Rosh Hashanah, but lawmakers could be called back if an agreement is reached.
For now, both sides are accusing the other of wanting a shutdown. The longest shutdown in history — 35 days beginning in December 2018 — began the last time Trump was president and Republicans controlled both houses of Congress.
House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma, said Republicans agreed to Democratic demands for a short-term continuing resolution, known as a CR, to keep the government running while negotiations continued.
“This is a manufactured crisis,” Cole said. “So my friends, when I give you what you asked for and you decide that’s not acceptable, and you change it afterwards, and you drop unrelated items in, that’s up to you. But let’s not have any pretense about what’s going on here. It’s political theater. Political theater, that’s all it is. But you are doing it at the risk of shutting down the government of the United States.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, meanwhile, said the Republicans were to blame.
“They, by not negotiating, are causing the shutdown. And that is plain,” Schumer said. “When we had the majority, we negotiated with them. There was no shutdown. They are in the majority. They don’t negotiate, they cause the shutdown, plain and simple.”
DeLauro and Murray introduced their own legislation to fund the government through Oct. 31 and allow more time for negotiations. That bill reached the Senate floor on Friday and gained a plurality, 48 – 44, but not the 60-vote majority needed. The House-passed GOP measure didn’t do as well, being defeated by 44 – 48.
The Democratic measure would ensure that Trump no longer could refuse to spend the money that Congress approved and lawmakers couldn’t simply vote to repeal some of the spending they agreed to during the talks.
DeLauro has accused the administration of illegally withholding the money allocated by federal law, an accusation that has been backed up by the Government Accountability Office, the watchdog and investigative arm of Congress. The House GOP then sought to gut the GAO by slashing its allocation.
She also condemned the Trump administration for trying to impound $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid. Federal law gives Congress 45 days to approve proposals by the president to cut funding, or else requires the money to be spent, but Trump released his proposal fewer than 45 days before the end of the current fiscal year and claimed that reductions automatically would take effect unless Congress acted by Sept. 30.
“Put simply, this White House seeks to undo any agreement made by Congress,” DeLauro said on the House floor. “These are not normal times. We are not considering this funding during normal circumstances. …Now is the time to stand up to the theft and the disregard for the middle class, the working class, and vulnerable Americans.
The Democratic bill also included new subsidies to prevent increases in health care premiums, rescinded some of the Medicaid cuts included in Trump’s signature tax-cut law, and added security funding for lawmakers, judges and administration officials.
“Democrats are fighting to stop Republicans from gutting health care. Democrats are fighting to lower costs for the middle class, the working class, and vulnerable Americans,” DeLauro said. “Republicans simply want the status quo, hardworking people living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to afford everyday necessities.”