Disagreements over guns, abortion, sanctuary cities, and other issues are preventing Congress from agreeing to a must-pass spending bill that they hoped to approve by this week, and must pass by March 23.
Finalizing a bill to fund the rest of fiscal year 2018 was expected to be much easier, after lawmakers in February agreed to a bipartisan deal that raises military and domestic spending by $300 billion over the next two fiscal years.
But appropriators said Wednesday that the House probably wonât take up the spending bill until next week in order to provide more time to negotiate the inclusion of last-minute provisions, and to meet the demands of key Democratic and Republicans lawmakers whose votes are critical for passing the bill with a majority in the House and 60 votes in the Senate.
A long-term “omnibus” spending bill is needed to keep the government fully functional after March 23. But the parties are hung up over the inclusion of policy riders that typically try to hitch a ride on funding legislation.
Lawmakers are now negotiating several different provisions, such as whether to strip taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood or penalize so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with immigration officials.
Lawmakers are also weighing whether to include school safety and gun control provisions in the legislation as well as whether to provide money to shore up Obamacare subsidies.
Another group of lawmakers, led by Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., is pushing leadership to include her legislation allowing states to collect sales taxes for online purchases. But that idea is opposed by others who say it would hurt small retailers and is already under consideration by the Supreme Court.
The negotiations were further muddled Wednesday when the White House floated a possible deal on immigration reform in which border wall funding would be included in exchange for a three-year extension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that now protects many young illegal immigrants from deportation.
By late afternoon Wednesday, lawmakers had all but given up hope on holding a vote this week.
âSooner is better, but if they canât make it by tonight, then the argument would be wait until Sunday or Monday to allow more negotiation,â Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a top appropriator, told the Washington Examiner.
A Republican aide confirmed Wednesday the text of the spending bill will be finished âlikely early next week,â which will leave only a few days for the two chambers to pass the bill without triggering cable news government shutdown clocks that both parties have come to abhor.
The policy rider wish list extends to the Senate.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, is hoping to incorporate his Fix NICS legislation, which would bolster reporting to the nationâs background check system for gun purchases.
Lawmakers are also open to including legislation to provide federal funding to increase school security, which is included in a measure authored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. âI would be in favor of that, and maybe the school safety bill,â Cornyn said.
But Republicans seem to be opposed to the idea of extending DACA in return for money to build the southern border wall. Several said that language would make it harder to pass the measure, and that in turn would threaten a government shutdown.
âI wouldnât think weâd want to complicate it unnecessarily,â Cornyn said.
Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., called the idea of including a DACA and wall funding trade-off âa heavy lift in light of all the other elementsâ holding up the bill now.
On the House side, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., an appropriator, said he wants Congress to find a permanent fix for people in the DACA program, which is extended for the foreseeable future thanks to several court rulings.
âThis ought to be settled long-term,â Hoyer said. âGive them permanent status, path to citizenship. No temporary patch.â
White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah downplayed the president’s interest in a Wall-DACA extension deal in the omnibus, despite claims made in the media by GOP aides. Instead, he said some wall money should be available naturally through the bill.
“The routine appropriations process should yield wall funding in the omnibus,” Shah told the Washington Examiner. “Securing the border is one of the most vital functions of government and is a core part of any routine funding bill.”
Democrats said they agree with funding border security but have not promised to back Trump’s specific request to pay for a southern border wall.
Senior Republican aides have not disclosed how much wall funding will be included in the omnibus. The president requested $1.6 billion, which was approved in a House-passed spending bill.
Language on sanctuary cities is another key demand being made of Republicans. Some conservative Republicans want the spending bill to include a provision to strip funding from sanctuary cities, a move endorsed by President Trump.
âWhy should Congress continue pouring taxpayer dollars into cities that defy federal immigration law? â tweeted Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who heads the conservative House Freedom Caucus. âThat shouldn’t happen in America â a nation of law and order.”
Republicans also want to use the spending bill to fix several mistakes in their major tax overhaul bill, which is now law. Democrats have balked at a major fix, arguing that they want to reopen the entire tax bill, which they opposed unanimously.
But a deal was reached on the matter Wednesday. Thune said the fix would likely be âvery narrow,â and would center on a benefit for farm cooperatives.
