Lawmakers race to avoid looming shutdown as blame game begins

Lawmakers are desperately trying to avoid a partial shutdown before Friday’s funding deadline, an effort made more difficult over the weekend after leaders failed to reach an agreement on who is responsible for the holdup. An argument was exchanged.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York announced Sunday that Congressional leaders have not yet reached an agreement on a compromise spending bill, blaming House Republicans for the delay. But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) fired back, placing the blame on “new Democratic demands” in the negotiations.

The Senate will reconvene on Monday, and House members will return to Washington on Wednesday, giving them time to iron out their differences and approve the spending bill, or if necessary, iron out another short-term patchwork. There are only a few days left. Four spending measures are scheduled for Friday, and eight others must be approved by March 8.

President Biden is scheduled to host the top four leaders of Congress at the White House on Tuesday to discuss upcoming government funding deadlines and the Senate-passed foreign aid package, which is awaiting action in the House.

Also this week, Hunter Biden is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee and the Judiciary Committee as part of the Republican impeachment inquiry into President Biden. becomes. Republicans inside and outside the Capitol.

In the Senate, senators are waiting to retrieve articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, but questions remain about how Schumer will respond to the charges.

Sprint to shutdown deadline

At the top of Congress’ to-do list this week is government funding. Lawmakers face a Friday deadline to pass four spending bills or face a partial shutdown.

This is the fourth time this Congress has faced the precipice of closure.

The embezzlers ended the weekend without releasing a compromise spending bill that has been the subject of negotiations for months, leaving lawmakers at a standstill as Friday’s deadline approaches.

Funding for the Departments of Military Construction, Water Development, Agriculture, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development expires Friday. The remaining eight spending bills expire on March 8th.

The top four leaders of Congress, Johnson, Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (R-New York) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), gathered at the White House on Tuesday to meet with Biden. , will discuss government funding. and a stalled foreign aid package.

The “four nations” last met at the White House in January to discuss sending additional aid to Ukraine. But Johnson has called for a one-on-one meeting with Biden to discuss national security and border issues.

This week’s rally comes after Mr. Schumer and Mr. Johnson engaged in a round of blame games last weekend in which they blamed each other for delays in releasing a compromise spending bill.

“While we had hoped to have a bill ready this weekend that would give members sufficient time to consider the text, we believe House Republicans need more time to gather their feelings,” Schumer said in a letter to Dear Colleagues on Sunday. It is clear that there is a need for this.”

He called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to “again stand up to the extremists in his caucus and do the right thing” when it comes to funding the government.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson applauded the letter and its “counterproductive rhetoric” and said in a statement that it was Democrats’ fault that the bicameral bill was not introduced.

“Leader Schumer’s letter does not mention that many of the issues currently being debated come from new Democratic demands that were not previously included in the Senate bill,” Johnson said. Ta. “Now that we have a divided government, Senate Democrats are looking to spend at this late stage on priorities even further to the left than what the chamber agreed to.”

“Now is not the time for petty politics,” he added, adding, “The House continues to work tirelessly and in good faith to reach an agreement with the Senate on a compromise government funding bill before the deadline.” “There is,” he said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is seeking to avoid a partial shutdown this week by passing a series of spending bills known as the “minibus,” sources told The Hill over the weekend. It’s unclear how many spending measures will be included in the package, but Johnson said his goal is to include four planned for Friday.

Hunter Biden to testify at Capitol Hill

The president’s son, Hunter Biden, is scheduled to face Republican lawmakers Wednesday in a closed-door deposition at a critical moment in the party’s impeachment inquiry.

The highly anticipated depositions, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. before the House Oversight and Judiciary committees, come as the Republican-led investigation has suffered several setbacks and questions about the strength of the conference’s case. The move comes amid growing skepticism within the Republican Party.

Last week, the president’s brother, James Biden, testified in an interview that the president had “no involvement in, and no direct or indirect financial interest in, any of these activities.” And earlier this month, the Justice Department indicted an FBI informant at the center of the Republican Party’s main allegations against Biden, accusing the confidential source of fabricating claims about the president.

The committee will now turn its attention to Hunter Biden, who has long argued that he is key to the case against the president. Republicans are probing the younger Biden’s business activities and personal life, and investigating allegations of “influence peddling” dating back to when his father was vice president.

“We’ll see what Hunter Biden says this Wednesday,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Wednesday’s deposition is the culmination of a months-long battle between Republicans on the committee and Hunter Biden over the terms of his appearance.

Republicans in November issued a subpoena to the younger Biden, requesting him to appear before the committee. The following month, on the day of his scheduled deposition, Biden issued a short statement on Capitol Hill, ignoring his subpoena and again requesting that he testify in public rather than behind closed doors. But Republicans had insisted that Biden first appear in a private deposition before the hearing.

Biden’s defiance prompted Republicans to pass a resolution charging him with contempt of Congress. But ahead of the House vote on the resolution, Hunter Biden’s team said he intended to testify privately if Republicans reissued him with a subpoena, and that the original subpoena had been issued before the House of Representatives. argued that it was invalid because it was sent before the impeachment vote. Investigation — Republicans complied with this request.

Senate awaits article of impeachment against Mayorkas

The Senate is preparing to take up articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this week after the House passed a resolution punishing the embattled cabinet member earlier this month.

But how the chamber will deal with the article remains undecided.

Mr. Schumer said on the day Mr. Mayorkas was impeached that the House impeachment managers submitted their articles to the Senate after recess, and that senators were then sworn in as jurors during the trial, and that Senate President pro tempore Patty Murray, D-Wash. The Democratic Party announced that it would do so. Preside.

The first question surrounding the next step in Mayorkas’ impeachment is when the article will be sent from the House to the Senate, but the issue is complicated by a looming government funding deadline. Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R.S., told The Hill last week that he expects Congress to take up the article this week.

Then there’s the question of what the Senate will do with this article. Mr. Schumer could dismiss his charges, indict them or send them to a special committee, all of which would require a majority vote from the chamber. Referring it to a special committee would allow the committee to consider the provisions and postpone a vote on the issue until after Election Day, forcing vulnerable Senate Democrats to take a tough vote in November. may be avoided.