Congress gave itself one more
week to agree on a spending bill to fund the U.S. government through September,
leading into President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office Saturday by
keeping the lights on.
The 382-30 House vote Friday was
followed quickly by unanimous Senate passage of the stopgap spending bill hours
before the shutdown deadline. The measure goes to Trump for his signature.
"We feel very good" that lawmakers will be able to pass a full
spending bill next week, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told
reporters.
Leaders of both parties say
they’re close to agreement on a broader spending plan after Republicans
signaled they would accept Democratic demands that the Trump administration
promise to continue paying Obamacare subsidies and drop its bid for immediate
funds for a wall on the Mexican border.
“You shouldn’t create artificial
deadlines,” Alabama Republican Gary Palmer said in support of the short-term
measure. "If there are things we need to work through, we need to take the
time to work through them.”
Senator Patrick Leahy, the top
Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said both sides have made progress on
issues including more funds for the National Institutes of Health, opioid
funding for states, Pell college grants and money for transit. But he said the
talks remain snagged over Republican demands for policy “riders.”
“Let’s not govern by partisan
manufactured crisis,” he said on the Senate floor. “Stop posturing,” he added
as he called for a speedy resolution on the bill sometime next week.
"This is no way to
govern," Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said before the Senate
vote.
Sixteen House Republicans voted
against Friday’s stopgap measure. The short-term fix to ward off a government
shutdown -- on a deadline set months ago -- shows the stubborn dysfunction of
Congress even with a unified Republican government. House GOP leaders on
Thursday abandoned efforts to vote this week on their plan to repeal and
replace Obamacare for lack of support in their party. A vote is still
possible next week.
Among the biggest achievements
Trump has highlighted for his first 100 days are executive orders, signing
bills to undo last-minute regulations from the Obama administration, and a
Supreme Court justice confirmation that required changing Senate rules to push
it through.
Congress will have just five days
starting Monday to finance the government until the end of the fiscal year on
Sept. 30. House leaders plan to release a bill on Monday after negotiations
over the weekend, No. 2 House Democrat Steny Hoyer of Maryland said Friday.
Sticking Points
Republicans are seeking
provisions that would block the Labor Department’s fiduciary rules governing
investment advice to retirees, as well as provisions blocking National Labor
Relations Board rules. The NLRB last August imposed liability for labor
violations on franchisers for violations by franchisees. These are among the 70
provisions remaining in the bill that Democrats object to, and little progress
has been achieved in the last day.
Democrats want restrictions on
added border security funding to prevent Trump from using the money to deport
undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. They also want
to limit funding for immigration detention beds. Democrats are seeking at least
$500 million in new funds to shore up Puerto Rico’s Medicaid program.
Even as lawmakers didn’t finish
the larger spending bill, Republicans spent much of the week tinkering with
their Obamacare plan, hoping to muster enough support to give Trump a
legislative win in his first 100 days. GOP leadership met late into Thursday night
and ultimately decided they still didn’t have enough support for a vote this
week.
Hoyer said he was voting for the
one-week spending bridge, H.J. Res 99, but wouldn’t support another one. A day
earlier, he had said he would oppose even that measure if Republicans pushed
ahead with their Obamacare revamp.
While Majority Leader Kevin
McCarthy ruled out a Friday or Saturday health-care vote, he left open the
possibility to try again next week, when the new shutdown deadline will be
hanging over the House.
Click
here for the original article from Bloomberg.