President Trump and Republicans, who now control Congress, face their first major budget test next week. The Senate reconvenes next Monday and the House of Representatives on Tuesday after a two-week recess and 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.
President Trump said yesterday that he thought Congress can pass the funding legislation and perhaps also a revamped healthcare bill. 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. Lawmakers next week may again have to buy some time by passing a short-term bill, perhaps one to three week, to maintain current spending levels.
Republican leaders face a familiar balancing act: satisfying the party’s most conservative members while not alienating its moderates. 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.
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 between the United States and Mexico or if it ends federal subsidies to help low-income people buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans want to repeal.
Democrats also want federal funds maintained for Planned Parenthood, which many Republicans oppose. Another obstacle would be if Trump demands large defense spending increases coupled with deep cuts to domestic programs Democrats want to protect.
Late on Thursday, leading House Democrats were voicing skepticism a deal could be reached by the deadline. 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.”
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.
Rules in the Senate mean Republicans 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.
“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.
