Get ready for a game of chicken on government spending.
The House on Tuesday will vote on a bill that couples short-term domestic spending with yearlong defense funding, setting up a showdown with the Senate ahead of a Feb. 8 deadline to keep the government open.
In a closed-door meeting late Monday, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., warned GOP lawmakers to be prepared for a game of “ping pong” with the Senate over the spending bill, which needs to pass by Thursday, when a temporary measure expires.
Republicans in the room urged Ryan not to put a Senate-passed bill on the House floor if defense spending is stripped out in the upper chamber.
“I hope we take the grenade, pull the pin out, and throw it back at them,” Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., told GOP leaders, according to meeting attendees.
“Well, you’re right,” Ryan responded, lawmakers in the room said, although it’s not clear whether Ryan was making any promises.
If the House and Senate cannot pass a spending bill by Thursday at midnight, a partial government shutdown will begin, the second partial closing in a matter of weeks.
Senate Democrats have long pledged to filibuster a short-term spending measure that fully funds defense for fiscal 2018 and exceeds federally mandated spending caps. But, House Republicans — facing pressure from defense hawks and conservatives — have warned House GOP leaders they won’t vote for any more short-term bills without full defense funding.
House Republicans need the backing of almost all of their members, because House Democrats are withholding support for spending bills until a deal is reached to protect so-called “Dreamers” from deportation.
Congress, due to a partisan disagreement over spending and immigration, has passed four short-term measures to fund the federal government in fiscal 2018, which began on Oct. 1. Defense Secretary James Mattis urged GOP lawmakers at their retreat last week to end the short-term funding because it is harming military readiness.
Republicans are now refusing to back a short-term bill that does not fully fund the military.
“I think leadership knows that, defense hawks, everybody, is in one corner saying we ain’t doing this again,” Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., told the Washington Examiner.
The House is planning to vote Tuesday on a bill that would fund the government until March 23. The bill includes funding for the Defense Department for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The House bill also includes a provision to fund community health centers for an additional two years, as well a host of other provisions related to Medicare and Medicaid meant to appeal to Democrats.
The CR will also include several extenders for various healthcare programs that including funding for a special diabetes program and funding for the National Health Service Corps. It also includes some controversial bills such as legislation that would dis-enroll lottery jackpot winners from Medicaid.
Senate Republicans earlier Monday told the Washington Examiner the defense spending would likely get stripped out in the upper chamber because Democrats will block it.
If the Senate strips out defense spending, the measure would have to go back to the House, which had planned to adjourn on Wednesday because House Democrats scheduled a retreat on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
“They could strip it all out and send it back over here,” Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y. “But we are going to make them vote. We are thinking there is so much in this, it is going to be hard to vote against this. This is a hard thing for anyone to vote against.”
Collins said he believes the House would ultimately vote on the Senate-passed measure if the defense spending is stripped out. But that would require Democrats to pass the bill since so many House GOP members will oppose a bill that excludes yearlong military funding.
Other Republicans, however, said they believe GOP leaders will not take up a short-term bill that excludes the yearlong defense spending, in deference to conservatives and defense hawks.
Republican leaders haven’t signaled what they will do if the Senate can’t pass their bill.
“We’ve done our job and the Senate will do what they do,” Collins said. “We are still planning on leaving Wednesday. Planning.”
Reporter Robert King contributed to this story.
