Tag Archives: Government Shutdown

Congress moves closer to deal to avert government shutdown

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump's overview of the budget priorities for Fiscal Year 2018 are displayed at the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) on its release by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in Washington, U.S. on March 16, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

By Eric Beech and Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Congress was moving closer to crafting a deal to avoid shutting down at the stroke of midnight on Friday, but the details and even broad strokes of an agreement were still murky.

Some lawmakers are optimistic they can hammer out a budget bill to take the government to the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30, while others see Congress putting a short-term spending resolution in place for a week, while talks continue.

Either way, the pressure is mounting to come up with a plan before Friday night. If lawmakers do not have one, funding for many federal agencies will abruptly stop and millions of government workers will be temporarily laid off.

Many policy makers are nervous about a repeat of 2013, when the government was shuttered for 17 days.

On Monday President Donald Trump eased up on demands to include funding for a southern border wall in any budget pact, clearing a major obstacle in the negotiations.

White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told CNN late on Tuesday that the Trump administration had also informed Democrats on Monday it would move discussions on building a border wall to September, when the government must negotiate the budget for its next fiscal year.

“And we thought that was going to get a deal done and we’ve not heard anything from them today,” he said. “So I’m not sure what’s happening.”

Even though Trump’s fellow Republicans control both chambers of Congress, they only have 52 seats in the Senate. To amass the 60 votes needed there to pass the budget, Republicans will have to bring Democratic lawmakers onto their side.

The most powerful Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said on Tuesday his party is concerned about the ratio of increase in defense and non-defense spending. Democrats prefer a one-to-one ratio, and boosting both sides of the budget equally could become a sticking point in negotiations.

Democrats also want provisions for more healthcare coverage for coal miners and appropriations for healthcare subsidies. Health insurance would abruptly become unaffordable for 6 million Americans who rely on cost-sharing subsidies under the national health plan commonly called Obamacare.

Democrats have been seeking immediate assistance for a funding gap in Puerto Rico’s Medicaid program, federal health insurance for the poor, saying it is in such bad shape that 1 million people are set to lose healthcare.

Mulvaney also said Trump would not agree to including Obamacare subsidies in a spending bill.

He told CNN that Democrats “raised Puerto Rico for the first time a couple of days ago,” but did not give Trump’s stance on the Medicaid assistance.

Outside political pressure groups are watching for which “riders” may be added to any deal that emerges this week.

Spending resolutions primarily lay out how government money can flow, but often also include riders, smaller measures attached to the budget so they can become law.

Past riders have touched on areas such as banning the Securities and Exchange Commission from requiring corporations to disclose political donations.

Democrats said they were worried Republicans could try to attach language limiting family-planning funds, and Schumer expressed concerns about attempts to undo Wall Street reforms enacted after the 2007-09 financial crisis.

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and Lisa Lambert; Writing by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Trump, Republicans face tricky task of averting U.S. government shutdown

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump's overview of the budget priorities for Fiscal Year 2018 are displayed at the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) on its release by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in Washington, U.S. on March 16, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

By Richard Cowan and David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans who control Congress face their first major budget test next week, with the threat of a U.S. government shutdown potentially hinging on his proposed Mexican border wall as well as Obamacare funding.

With Republicans controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress, keeping the federal government operating is a basic test of their ability to govern, but their task could become even more complicated if they insist on using the spending legislation to bring about contentious policy changes.

Not only must Republicans overcome intraparty ideological divisions that stopped major healthcare legislation last month, but they will have to win over some opposition Democrats with provisions that could be distasteful to conservatives.

With the Senate reconvening on Monday and the House of Representatives on Tuesday after a two-week recess, lawmakers will have only four days to pass a spending package to keep the government open beyond April 28, when funding expires for numerous federal programs.

“I think we want to keep the government open,” Trump said on Thursday, adding he thinks Congress can pass the funding legislation and perhaps also a revamped healthcare bill.

Democratic support depends on what provisions Republicans demand in the bill. Democrats have signaled they would not cooperate if it contains money for one of Trump’s top priorities, a southwestern border wall intended to combat illegal immigration, or if it ends federal subsidies to help low-income people buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, which Republicans want to repeal.

Democrats also want federal funds maintained for Planned Parenthood, which many Republicans oppose because the women’s healthcare provider performs abortions. Another obstacle would be if Trump demands large defense spending increases coupled with deep cuts to domestic programs Democrats want to protect.

BALANCING ACT

Late on Thursday, leading House Democrats were voicing skepticism a deal could be reached by the deadline. In a telephone call for House Democrats, Representative Nita Lowey, the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said: “I don’t see how we can meet that deadline” and avoid having to pass a short-term extension, according to an aide on the call.

The second-ranking House Democrat, Representative Steny Hoyer, told his fellow Democrats that they should only support such a short-term measure if a deal on long-term bill is reached and only finishing touches remained, the aide said.

Republican leaders face a familiar balancing act: satisfying the party’s most conservative members while not alienating its moderates.

Rules in the 100-seat Senate mean Trump’s party also would need the support of at least eight Democrats even if the Republicans remain unified, giving the opposition party leverage. House Republican leaders would need some Democratic votes if the most conservative lawmakers object to the bill, as they did to the healthcare plan championed by Speaker Paul Ryan.

With congressional elections looming next year, Republicans acknowledge the stakes are high.

“Even our most recalcitrant members understand that if you shut down the government while you’re running it and you control the House and the Senate, you can’t blame anybody but yourself,” said Representative Tom Cole, a senior House Appropriations Committee Republican.

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said the Trump administration was willing to talk to Democrats about funding for Obamacare subsidies in exchange for their agreement to include some Trump priorities such as the wall, the defense hike and more money for immigration enforcement.

“It is ripe for some type of negotiated agreement that gives the president some of his priorities and Democrats some of their priorities. So we think we’ve opened the door for that,” Mulvaney said.

Democrats reacted negatively.

“Everything had been moving smoothly until the administration moved in with a heavy hand. Not only are Democrats opposed to the wall, there is significant Republican opposition as well,” said Matt House, a spokesman for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

FURLOUGH ‘LADY LIBERTY?’

The government was last forced to close in October 2013, when Republican Senator Ted Cruz and some of the most conservative House Republicans engineered a 17-day shutdown in an unsuccessful quest to kill Democratic former President Barack Obama’s healthcare law.

“These kind of bills can’t pass without a reasonable number of the party of the minority in the Senate, and we are optimistic we will be able to work all that out,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said at the start of the spring recess.

A deal is needed because Congress was unable to approve funding for the entire 2017 fiscal year that ends in September and has relied on stop-gap spending legislation.

Congress has passed no major legislation since Trump took office in January, and he has ambitious hopes for major tax-cut legislation, infrastructure spending and other bills.

With the difficulty passing a bill with so many divisive elements, lawmakers next week might need to buy time by passing a short-term bill lasting possibly one to three weeks, maintaining current spending levels.

“That would be a setback: not catastrophic, but not a good thing, and a sign that you can’t govern,” Cole said.

A federal closure would shutter National Park Service destinations like the Statue of Liberty, Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. Government medical research would be suspended. Thousands of federal workers would be furloughed with thousands more working without pay until the shutdown ends, including homeland security personnel. Some veterans benefits could be suspended.

Time would stand still in the U.S. Capitol with nobody on duty to wind the 200-year-old “Ohio Clock” just outside the Senate chamber.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan and David Morgan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Will Dunham)

The Washington Post: Around the globe, U.S. debt deal prompts relief, but also exasperation, worry for future

The U.S. debt deal sparked relief around the world Thursday, but happiness was tempered by head-shaking that the world’s largest economy had nearly defaulted on its financial obligations, and President Obama said that the United States’ global standing had been damaged.

World leaders and investors have been puzzled for weeks about the showdown paralyzing Washington, and some had complained that U.S. politicians who lay claim to global leadership were doing little to safeguard international finances. On Thursday, officials and newspapers from Beijing to Madrid said the crisis raised fresh questions about the strength of the American political system.

Obama, meanwhile, said that the shutdown had done great harm. “It’s encouraged our enemies,” he said. “It’s emboldened our competitors. And it’s depressed our friends who look to us for steady leadership.”

World markets were largely lower Thursday after having risen earlier this week on expectations that a deal would be made.

Source: The Washington Post – The Washington Post: Around the globe, U.S. debt deal prompts relief, but also exasperation, worry for future

Associated Press: From Crab Fishers To Office Staff, Nation Reboots

The end of the federal shutdown means boats will be back out on the Bering Sea to fish for king crab. Loggers are being allowed back into national forests in Oregon. And barriers keeping nature lovers out of national parks across the country have been removed.

Crews on about 80 boats have been sitting out the multimillion-dollar harvest of red king crab because federal managers who assign fishing quotas were among workers furloughed during the government’s partial shutdown. They’re relieved that they’ll soon be able to start their harvest, bringing back an industry that was one of many private sectors of the economy stalled around the country by the bickering in Washington.

“I’m glad the madness has ended,” said Capt. Keith Colburn, a regular on Discovery Channel’s popular reality show “Deadliest Catch.”

Source: Associated Press – Associated Press: From Crab Fishers To Office Staff, Nation Reboots

Government Employees Return To Work; World Still Concerned

After President Obama signed a cross-party deal in the wee hours of Thursday morning, hundreds of thousands of government workers returned to their jobs Thursday.

The measure reopens the government and funds operations through January 15th.

However, the deal does not include any of the budget issues that have caused the sharpest divisions between Republicans and Democrats in Congress. The lack of resolution to the division is causing continued concern around the world.

“It will be essential to reduce uncertainty surrounding the conduct of fiscal policy by raising the debt limit in a more durable manner,” International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde said in a statement.

Economists also say the shutdown cost the American economy billions of dollars.

“The U.S. is not doing a very good job at the moment in showing itself to be a model of good governance,” Nicholas Kitchen of the London School of Economics told the BBC.

FOX News: Federal employees return to work, parks re-open

Furloughed federal employees returned to work Thursday morning after Congress passed a hard-fought deal to end the partial government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling, as barriers went down at federal memorials and national parks re-opened.

The government was returning to normal, for now, after 16 days of a partial shutdown.

Included in the bill signed by President Obama shortly after midnight was a provision to provide back pay for furloughed workers. Many workers received a slimmed-down paycheck this past Friday due to the budget impasse — it’s unclear exactly when that money will be reimbursed. The bill stated it should be paid “as soon as practicable.”

Rep. Jim Moran, R-Va., who represents many federal workers who live in his district, noted thousands of contractors will not be compensated for lost work during the partial shutdown.

Source: FOX News – FOX News: Federal employees return to work, parks re-open

FOX News: What Now? Obama, Congress face new budget deadlines after stopgap deal

Another last-minute deal struck, another crisis postponed in Washington.

But lawmakers have little time to bask in the temporary relief the bill provides. As furloughed federal employees return to work Thursday, Congress faces another budget deadline three months from now, and a deadline to raise the debt ceiling a few weeks after that.

After the chaos caused by the impasse of the last 16 days, officials are hoping this time to do more than simply meet those deadlines with another pair of stopgap measures.

“We believe there is common ground,” Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Thursday.

Source: FOX News – FOX News: What Now? Obama, Congress face new budget deadlines after stopgap deal

FOX News: Obama signs bill ending partial shutdown, raising debt ceiling

President Obama and his congressional allies succeeded overnight in winning a virtually condition-free increase in the debt ceiling, along with funding to end the partial government shutdown — but in a deal that left America’s debt crisis un-addressed and teed up another battle three months from now.

The president signed the short-term bill early Thursday morning. With his signature, furloughed federal employees will return to work for the first time since Sept. 30. The White House directed all federal agencies to promptly restore staffing to normal levels.

The bill cleared the House late Wednesday on a 285-144 vote, lifted over the finish line by a large chunk of Democrats. All House Democrats voted in favor of the bill and 87 Republicans did as well; 144 Republicans voted against it. The Senate, where the plan originated, earlier voted 81-18 for the bill.

Source: FOX News – FOX News: Obama signs bill ending partial shutdown, raising debt ceiling

President Signs Bill Ending Partial Shutdown

President Obama signed a short-term funding bill early Thursday morning that ended the partial government shutdown and raised the country’s debt ceiling.

The bill passed the House Wednesday night 285-144, with 87 Republicans joining all the House Democrats in passing the bill. The Senate, who originated the deal behind the bill, passed it 81-18.

The agreement funds the government through January 15th, raises the debt ceiling through February 7th and provides back-pay for furloughed federal employees. The Republicans were unable to get changes made to Obamacare beyond a provision to verify the income levels of those receiving Obamacare subsidies.

The bill also contained items that seemed unusual in a bill aimed at reopening the government including a nearly $3 billion earmark for a dam construction project in Kentucky.

“Tonight, a deal was struck to re-open the government and avoid the debt ceiling deadline. That is a good thing,” Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said in a statement. “However, our country faces a problem bigger than any deadline: a $17 trillion debt. I am disappointed that Democrats would not compromise to avoid the looming debt debacle.”

Sen. Paul voted against the bill.

Senate Deal Struck To End Shutdown

Leaders in the U.S. Senate have struck a deal to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling ahead of Thursday’s historic default.

The bill would extend the debt ceiling through February 7th and fund the government through mid-January. The bill also calls for budget negotiations between both houses of Congress on a long-term spending plan and includes a provision to strengthen verification measures for those seeking government subsidies for Obamacare.

Several Republican house members are reportedly not happy with the deal which does not include a defunding of Obamacare.

“If we’re not willing to take a stand now, then when will we take this stand?” Rep. Steve King of Iowa told CNN this morning.

Stock markets worldwide jumped on news of the impending deal.