House OKs debt and funding plan, inviting clash with GOP

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LATIMES.COM
House OKs debt and funding plan, inviting clash with GOP - Los Angeles
Times
LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING


WASHINGTON --

The House voted Tuesday night to fund the government into early
December, suspend the federal debt limit and provide disaster and
refugee aid, setting up a high-stakes showdown with Republicans who
oppose the package despite the prospects of a looming fiscal crisis.

The Democratic-led House passed the measure by a vote of 220-211,
strictly along party lines. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it
is likely to falter because of overwhelming GOP opposition.

The federal government faces a shutdown if funding stops on Sept. 30,
the end of the fiscal year, midnight next Thursday. Additionally, at
some point in October the U.S. risks defaulting on its accumulated
debt load if its borrowing limits are not waived or adjusted.

"Our country will suffer greatly if we do not act now to stave off
this unnecessary and preventable crisis," House Majority Leader Steny
Hoyer (D-Md.) said shortly before the vote.

The package approved Tuesday would provide stopgap money to keep the
government funded to Dec. 3 and extend borrowing authority through the
end of 2022. It includes $28.6 billion in disaster relief for the
aftermath of Hurricane Ida and other extreme weather events, and $6.3
billion to support Afghanistan evacuees in the fallout from the end of
the 20-year war.

While suspending the debt ceiling allows the government to meet
financial obligations already incurred, Republicans argued it would
also facilitate a spending binge in the months ahead.

"I will not support signing a blank check as this majority is
advancing the most reckless expansion of government in generations,"
said Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.).

Backed by the White House, Democratic congressional leaders pushed
ahead at a time of great uncertainty in Congress. Democrats are also
trying to gather support for President Biden's broad "build back
better" agenda, which would have a price tag of up to $3.5 trillion
over 10 years.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said he was not
about to help pay off past debts when Biden was about to pile on more.
He said since Democrats control the White House and Congress, it's
their problem to find the votes.

"The debt ceiling will be raised as it always should be, but it will
be raised by the Democrats," McConnell said.

In the 50-50 Senate, Democrats will be hard-pressed to find 10
Republicans to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a
filibuster.

"This is playing with fire," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer
( D-N.Y.).

The Treasury Department has been using "extraordinary measures" to
fund the government since the last debt limit suspension expired July
31, and projects that at some point next month will run out cash
reserves. Then, it will have to rely on incoming receipts to pay its
obligations, now at $28.4 trillion. That could force the Treasury to
delay or miss payments, a devastating situation.

Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Analytics, warned if
lawmakers allow a federal debt default "this economic scenario is
cataclysmic."

In a report being circulated by Democrats, Zandi warned that a
potential downturn from government funding cutbacks would cost 6
million jobs and stock market losses would wipe out $15 trillion of
household wealth.

Once a routine matter, raising the debt ceiling has become a political
weapon of choice for Republicans in Washington since the 2011 arrival
of tea party lawmakers who refused to allow the increase. At the time,
they argued against more spending and the standoff triggered a fiscal
crisis.

Echoing that strategy, McConnell is refusing to provide Republican
votes, even though he also relied on Democratic votes help raise the
debt ceiling when his party had the majority. He explained his current
thinking to senators during a private lunch Tuesday.

Still, some GOP senators might have a tough time voting no.

Republican John Kennedy of Louisiana, whose state was battered by the
hurricane and who is up for election next year, said he will likely
vote for the increase. "My people desperately need the help," he said.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that "in our
view, this should not be a controversial vote." Psaki said Congress
has raised the debt ceiling numerous times on a bipartisan basis,
including three times under President Trump.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the Democratic chairwoman of the House
Appropriations Committee, was forced to introduce another version of
the bill Tuesday after some within the Democratic caucus objected to
the inclusion of $1 billion for Israel's Iron Dome defense system,
which uses missiles to intercept short-range rockets fired into the
country.

The Israel defense issue splits Democrats, but DeLauro assured
colleagues that money for the weapons system would be included in the
annual defense spending bill for the next fiscal year, which begins
Oct. 1. Hoyer went a step further and said he would bring a bill to
the floor this week to replenish the Iron Dome system.

Republicans were highly critical of the change and vowed to stand as
allies with Israel.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Democrats were negotiating among
themselves over Biden's big "build back better" package as the price
tag likely slips to win over skeptical centrist lawmakers who view it
as too much.

Publicly, the White House has remained confident the legislation will
pass soon, despite sharp differences among progressives and moderates
in the party over the eventual size of the package and a companion $1
trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

There has been a flurry of outreach from the White House to Democrats
on Capitol Hill, and Biden himself was given a call sheet of lawmakers
to cajole, even though his week was dominated by foreign policy,
including his speech to the United Nations General Assembly.

The president has been talking to a wide number of lawmakers beyond
his recent meetings with Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) and Kyrsten
Sinema (D-Ariz.), two key centrist votes, according to a White House
official familiar with the calls and granted anonymity to discuss
them.

Biden's big initiative touches almost all aspects of Americans' lives.
It would impose tax hikes on corporations and wealthy Americans
earning beyond $400,000 a year and plow that money back into federal
programs for young and old. It would increase and expand government
health, education and family support programs for households, children
and seniors, and boost environmental infrastructure programs to fight
climate change.

With Republicans opposed to Biden's vision, Democrats have no votes to
spare in the Senate, and just a few votes' margin in the House.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) has promised a Sept. 27
vote on a companion bill, a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill
of public works projects that enjoys widespread support from both
parties in the Senate, though House Republicans mostly oppose it.

Even though that bipartisan bill should be an easy legislative lift,
it too faces a political obstacle course. Dozens of lawmakers in the
Congressional Progressive Caucus are expected to vote against it if it
comes ahead of the broader Biden package. And centrists won't vote for
the broader package unless they are assured the bipartisan bill will
also be included.
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