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Title: White House tell agencies to prepare for shutdown as Rand Paul holds up key vote (Swamp Closing)
Source:
CNN
URL Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/08/poli ... e-congress-shutdown/index.html
Published: Feb 8, 2018
Author: Ted Barrett, Daniella Diaz, Phil Matting
Post Date: 2018-02-08 23:32:09 by Hondo68
Keywords: Sen. Lindsey Graham, criticized Paul on Twitter
Views: 466
Comments: 6
(CNN)Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is preventing a two-year budget deal from passing, as the White House advised federal agencies to prepare for the government to start shutting down at midnight. Congressional negotiators were scrambling earlier Thursday to lock in enough votes in the House, and that was before Paul, a Republican, made public his dissatisfaction with the deal, which would raise government spending, avert a government shutdown and lift the debt ceiling. A senior administrative official said the White House is instructing agencies to begin shutdown preparations in the event that Congress fails to pass a budget before the midnight deadline. Paul is pushing for an amendment to maintain budget caps, but Senate sources say leaders have no plan to give Paul such a concession, meaning that he can continue to prevent a vote until after midnight, when government funding runs out. He criticized his own party for reckless spending. "There is probably a lot of blame to go around for the Republicans who are advocating for this debt," Paul to CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront. "But I would say, really, primarily, this is coming from Congress. Leadership in Congress in both the House and Senate has decided to move forward. But the funny thing is you know so often in the media we hear 'we want you to work together.' They are are working together but working together to spend a ton of money." The Senate is currently scheduled to vote to end the debate on the budget deal at 1 a.m. ET Friday. After that, it's unclear how all of this will unfold. The colossal bill, which lawmakers have been negotiating for months, would be a game-changing piece of legislation, clearing the decks for Congress in dealing with major spending issues as well as doling out disaster relief money. The overall deal also does not address the high-profile issue of immigration, a key sticking point for many Democrats; but it does increase spending caps by $300 billion for the Pentagon and domestic priorities, a crucial incentive for getting enough votes from both parties. RELATED: What are spending caps? The proposal also represents a sharp change in tone for Republicans who under President Barack Obama railed strongly for fiscal austerity and warned about a ballooning national debt, and are now in effect removing barriers to spending previously put in place in part by leaders from their own party. As of Thursday evening, it's not clear if there are enough Republican votes to pass it in the House, meaning most likely some Democrats would have to vote for it to reach a simple majority, a fact House Speaker Paul Ryan alluded to in a Thursday morning radio interview with Hugh Hewitt. "Part of it depends on the Democrats. This is a bipartisan bill. It's going to need bipartisan support," the Wisconsin Republican said. "We are going to deliver our share of support. I feel very good about Republicans." The Senate took a key procedural step Thursday just after noon in which the House bill passed earlier this week failed to gather the 60 votes it needed to advance. The Senate must vote to send the full deal back to the House. If the government does shut down, an official with the Office of Management and Budget told CNN it's up to individual agencies how they handle a shutdown, but even those that are affected by this potential lapse will be able to come in for up to four hours to conduct an orderly shutdown. The Senate's Majority whip sounded a bit frustrated by the holdup. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said he didn't know how long it would take to resolve the issue and said there are other procedural steps Paul could take to get a vote that leaders were talking to him about. "Sen. Paul has some concerns he wants to be able to voice," Cornyn told reporters. "We're trying to work with him to help get that done." "If we get one amendment up, you can imagine other people are going to have amendments," he said. "You can essentially accomplish the same thing by a point-of-order and get a vote. He doesn't need consent to do that. So that's an alternative we're going to suggest to him and work with him on." Paul defended his stance on Fox News on Thursday evening, calling the proposal "a rotten deal" over what he considered excessive spending. "There's only so much I can do, and this is the silly thing about it. ... I will make them listen to me, and they will have to have me listened to," Paul said. "This is too important for the country not to have a debate about it." Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, criticized Paul on Twitter. "It appears 'General' @RandPaul is at it again. He just called for the immediate withdrawal of all forces from Afghanistan as a way to give the US military a pay raise," Graham tweeted. "Fortunately, only 'General' Paul -- and the Taliban - think that's a good idea." Some House Democrats, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, plan to vote no on the bill because it doesn't include a permanent solution for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration program. "I know that there is a real commitment to solving the DACA challenge in both political parties. That's a commitment that I share," Ryan said during a news conference Thursday on Capitol Hill. "To anyone who doubts my intention to solve this problem and bring up a DACA and immigration reform bill: do not." But the House speaker argued that Congress must first pass the budget agreement to shift their focus to immigration reform as a separate legislative fight. Ryan committed to bringing a DACA solution to the House floor, "one that the President will sign." Pelosi for her part is not whipping her fellow Democrats in the House to vote against the bill, saying at her own news conference earlier, "I am just telling people why I am voting the way I am voting." Many Democrats are outraged that the spending deal would give away leverage on immigration issues, as it's not clear if a DACA solution would advance without firmer commitments from GOP leaders. "Anyone who votes for the Senate budget deal is colluding with this President and this Administration to deport Dreamers," said Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, an Illinois Democrat and fierce advocate for DACA recipients, in a statement. "It is as simple as that." The No. 2 House Democrat told reporters Thursday afternoon after a meeting with the Democratic caucus that he's urging McConnell to consider a 24 hour funding bill to prevent shutting down the government Friday. "Let me tell you what we're urging right now, we're urging the Majority Leader to put a 24 hour (continuing resolution) on the floor, so we don't shut down government," Steny Hoyer said. "Obviously Rand Paul, a Republican, is objecting, and they haven't moved a bill." However some House Democrats have signaled they will support the bill, including Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky and Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey. Most who came of the meeting either declined to comment or said they weren't voting for it. The massive two-year budget deal proposed by Senate leaders Wednesday would raise budget caps by $300 billion in the next two years, increases the debt ceiling and offer up more than $80 billion in disaster relief for hurricane-ravaged Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. About $160 billion would go to the Pentagon and about $128 billion to non-defense programs. "Our members who are focused on the military are very happy where we landed with that," Ryan told Hewitt on his radio show in reference to the defense spending caps. The debt ceiling will be raised by the appropriate amount until March 2019. RELATED: Trillion dollar deficits to hit sooner than expected Exact spending would be left to the appropriations committees, but included in the funding is $10 billion to invest in infrastructure, $2.9 billion for child care and $3 billion to combat opioid and substance abuse. The bill also keeps the government running until late March. Funding for the federal government is set to run out Thursday night at midnight, though congressional leaders in both parties have said they don't expect a shutdown and that the deal will pass. "I think we will," Ryan said on Hewitt's radio show earlier Thursday. "I feel good." Poster Comment: Fiscal Conservative delivers epic speech against big spending D&R congress. Objects to Chuck Shulmer AND Mitch McConnell. Paul amendment holds up Senate vote
Key question: How many House Democrats will vote for the plan?
What's in the bill?
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#1. To: hondo68 (#0)
Paul lambasted them pretty well. Deservedly. But he won't prevail. They're feeling all bipartisanish and are willing to make the sacrifice of spending wildly on debt they expect someone else's grandkids to repay.
Paul Ryan can't find a Democrat to vote for this spending boondoggle? This is all on the Rpublicans? If that's the case, slash spending on domestic programs and pass the bill.
I thought he got a few dozen of House Dems but not Pelosi. Not sure about Steny Hoyer.
I saw more info at WS: . . . There was some uncertainty in the House leading up to the vote, with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi urging her members to vote against the bill. Other Democratic leaders, however, left wiggle room for their members to vote in favor of the measure. And many did. As one Democratic lawmaker told Talking Point Memo’s Joseph Cameron, "I'm really hoping this passes over my no vote." In the end, 73 Democrats bucked Pelosi by voting "yes," including rivals Tim Ryan and Kathleen Rice. Because fiscal hawks in the Republican party were opposed to the deal—Republican Study Committee Chair Mark Walker said it would add “insurmountable debt crippling any hope of pursuing the American dream”—Republican leaders needed Democratic support to get the bill across the finish line. Progressive Democrats who have called for a replacement for the expiring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program were frustrated because the budget deal did not include a DACA fix. And House Speaker Paul Ryan declined to assuage their concerns by promising to bring the issue to the House floor in an open amendments process.
True. But in the House you have to wonder -- if all the Dems voted no, could the Republicans have gotten the necessary votes to pass it. Call me a cynic, but I think the vote reflected the desire of some Republicans to act fiscally responsible and the desire of some Dems to increase spending on social issues -- and still have the bill pass. Kabuki theater.
Don't fix it, start deporting, and blame the Democrats. Add the funding for the wall to the planned $1.5 trillion in infrastructure spending. Pass a 5% tariff on all Mexican imports until the funding for the wall is repaid. Geez Louise. Do I have to do everything?
#2. To: Tooconservative (#1)
as Rand Paul holds up key vote
#3. To: misterwhite (#2)
Paul Ryan can't find a Democrat to vote for this spending boondoggle? This is all on the Rpublicans?
#4. To: misterwhite (#2)
So it required Dem votes in both House and Senate. In the House, 169 GOPes and 71 Dems passed it.
The bill then went to the House, where lawmakers cast their votes at 5:14 Friday morning. It passed that chamber with a vote of 240-186, ending the brief government spending lapse.
#5. To: Tooconservative (#4)
"So it required Dem votes in both House and Senate."
#6. To: Tooconservative (#4)
were frustrated because the budget deal did not include a DACA fix.
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