As lawmakers rush to wrap up business for the year ahead of the 118th Congress, Congress is rushing to introduce a government funding bill to avert a government shutdown by a Friday deadline.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) was expected to unveil a stopgap plan on Sunday, but that plan fell through as negotiators worked through last-minute funding hurdles. Funding for farmers appears to be at the top of the list, and key lawmakers from both parties are currently debating who is to blame for the delay.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking, and Congress has until Dec. 20 to pass a funding bill or authorize a government shutdown during the waning days of the Biden administration.
Also this week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is scheduled to visit the U.S. Capitol to meet with Senate Republicans seeking support for his nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services.
Lawmakers on the Senate floor will consider the annual defense bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), after the House passed a major bill last week.
Lawmakers aim to break funding impasse
Lawmakers from both parties and House of Representatives are waiting for Congressional negotiators to release the text of a continuing resolution that would allow them to avoid a government shutdown and leave Washington for the holidays before Friday's funding deadline. The aim is to bring the bill to a quick vote.
Mr Johnson and other executive members missed their goal of releasing a document on Sunday as last-minute challenges, including disagreements over aid to farmers, hampered the process.
As the parties struggle to negotiate a long-term plan, leading lawmakers last week suggested that the stopgap measures, which are expected to last about three months, include extending the 2018 Farm Bill for another year. Members also discussed dedicating additional funding to farmers in the package, a prospect that appears to have delayed the release of funding bill text.
The parties are currently debating who is to blame.
Sen. John Hoeven (N.D.), the top Republican on the appropriations subcommittee that oversees farm funding, wrote: statement On Saturday, Republicans proposed a package with $12 billion in economic damage relief and $16 billion in weather aid that Republican leaders approved, but Democrats balked at.
“Republican leadership supports this proposal, and we have openly recommended that Democratic leadership support farmers and ranchers across the country. We have eliminated additional elements, but we still do not have the necessary Democratic support,” Hoeven wrote.
Meanwhile, Democrats are placing the blame on Republicans. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), the chair of the subcommittee that oversees farm funding, and Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), the top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, said the Republican members of Congress will have $10 billion. He said he rejected the proposal.
“Republican leadership has rejected this $10 billion proposal, denying needed economic aid and decades of increased conservation spending. This proposal has been paid for and requested. It is important to emphasize that this does not take funding away from critical natural disaster relief,” the pair wrote in the letter. statement Saturday.
“The future onslaught of farm foreclosures and retirement sales rests with Republican leadership,” they added.
The debate is set to reach a climax when lawmakers return to the Capitol early this week, with little time left to avert a shutdown. House Republicans have asked Johnson to give lawmakers at least 72 hours before voting on the bill, meaning the earliest the House can vote on the stopgap bill is Thursday.
RFK Jr. begins meeting with senators
Kennedy, a former Democrat and former presidential candidate, will begin touring the Capitol this week seeking confirmation from President Trump to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.
The meeting comes as President Kennedy faces some skepticism over past comments questioning vaccines and expanding on the debunked theory that the jab causes autism. It was held in
President Kennedy's meetings this week included a meeting with Republican health staffers on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and future chairman-elect Bill Cassidy. Preparing for a meeting with Sen. (R-Louisiana). .
Kennedy's visit came after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who survived polio as a boy, resigned and slammed the candidate's views on vaccines. This indicates that President Kennedy may face several obstacles in seeking confirmation.
new york times We reported last week that Aaron Siri, the lawyer who helped President Kennedy hire Trump administration health officials, has petitioned the federal government to revoke the approval of the polio vaccine. In a statement that did not mention Kennedy or Siri, McConnell slammed vaccine skepticism and voiced support for treatments.
“Evidence that undermines public confidence in proven treatments is not just uninformed, it’s dangerous,” McConnell wrote. “Those seeking the Senate’s consent to serve as the next administration would be wise to avoid even linking themselves to such efforts.”
Senate considers NDAA
The Senate is scheduled to take up the NDAA this week as the Senate tries to wrap up its agenda ahead of the recess.
The House of Representatives last week passed a massive $883.7 billion budget that includes a 14.5% raise for junior enlisted personnel and a 4.5% raise for all other members of the military.
The Senate is scheduled to take its first procedural vote on the bill on Monday, setting the stage for final passage later in the week. Lawmakers have a deadline at the end of the year to approve the bill.
The Senate is expected to pass the bill on a bipartisan vote, but the final tally is more partisan than usual after negotiators included provisions in the bill that angered Democrats. It could become something. This language would limit the use of funds from TRICARE, a medical program for active-duty military personnel, for gender-affirming care of military personnel's children under the age of 18.
The House approved the NDAA on a bipartisan vote of 281-140, with 124 Democrats voting “no” to show resistance to the provision.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York nodded to the provision in a statement last week, but said Congress would “continue to function” despite its details.
“There are some very good things in this year's NDAA that we as Democrats wanted, but there are also some bad things that we didn't include and things that were left out,” Schumer said. “But we're going to keep working. We're going to keep working. The two sides are working well together and we hope to get the job done soon.”
