On Wednesday morning, House Speaker Paul Ryan called Democrats’ plans to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government for just three months “a ridiculous idea.” Hours later, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi announced that President Trump had agreed to help them do just that.
“In the meeting, the President and Congressional leadership agreed to pass aid for Harvey, and extension of the debt limit, and a continuing resolution both to December 15, all together,” the statement read. “As Democratic leaders, we also made it clear that we strongly believe the DREAM Act must come to the floor and pass as soon as possible, and we will not rest until we get this done.”
Republicans and Democrats alike want to pass the debt legislation necessary to avoid a government shutdown, which would otherwise occur on Sept. 29. But while Republicans have pushed to fund the government through the 2018 midterm elections, Democrats have argued for a shorter-term bill, which would allow them to fight for additional concessions such as passing the DREAM Act when the measure comes up again in December.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump called the action a “bipartisan deal”—despite the fact that it mirrors exactly the Democratic plan and contradicts the Republican one.
The announcement came only an hour after the House of Representatives approved a $7.4 billion emergency aid package for Hurricane Harvey relief by a 419-3 vote. That measure was a “clean” bill, solely allocating funds for disaster relief. But the bill will bounce back to the House if the Senate implements the Pelosi/Schumer plan—a move that would facilitate quick passage of the debt ceiling and government funding, but would infuriate House conservatives, who want to extract spending cuts in the debt ceiling fight.
Mark Meadows, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, argued against the combined measure in a Washington Examiner editorial Wednesday, castigated Congress’s “bad habit” of trying to prop up unpopular bills by attaching them to important and time-sensitive legislation.
“In Washington we are notorious for making our jobs far more difficult than they need to be,” Meadows wrote. “Speaking nothing of how we often fall short in keeping our promises, we frequently play an unnecessary game of politics with key issues—using must-pass legislation such as disaster relief as a vehicle to sweeten unrelated, contentious bills that may not otherwise pass as stand-alone measures.”
If nothing else, a bipartisan measure passing hurricane relief, raising the debt ceiling, and funding the government in one fell swoop would relieve some of the enormous pressure on Congress’s jam-packed legislative calendar. But all the time in the world won’t help Republicans pass their agenda if they have no political capital to spend on it.
