Republican leaders are accusing Democrats of trying to hold up bills to authorize and fund the Defense Department in order to bargain for higher spending at other federal agencies, including the IRS and the EPA.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called out the Democratic plan on the Senate floor Thursday, and said if Democrats get their way, it will mean holding up raises for people in the military.
He noted that the defense authorization bill would authorize $612 billion in defense spending, which is just what President Obama wanted, and said the bill passed the Senate Armed Services Committee 22-4. But now, he said Democrats have changed their minds, and decided to push for spending hikes across the board.
“We were all set to pass the very type of bill President Obama indicated he wanted,” McConnell said. “But then Democrat leaders started listening to that little partisan on their shoulder.”
“‘Why not take this opportunity to plump up that unrelated government spending you like so much?’ it whispered. ‘Just threaten to filibuster pay raises for the troops until they shower more cash on the bureaucrats in Washington.'”
McConnell said the strategy shows Democrats are willing to gamble with defense funding in a “high-stakes game of shut-down roulette.”
McConnell was joined by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who tried to cast the Democratic plan as one that favors the IRS and EPA over troops.
“Their plan is to block, filibuster, veto everything – starting with a pay raise for our troops – in order to extract more funding for the IRS and the EPA,” Boehner said. “Now, if they don’t get what they want, Democrats appear willing to shut down the government.”
“What this comes down to is real simple: Do Democrats support our troops, or don’t they?” Boehner asked. “Do Democrats put our troops first, or do they put the IRS and the EPA first?”
Democrats have been arguing for weeks that Republicans are using an account normally reserved for war funding to boost Defense Department spending, which otherwise would see cuts due to the sequester. The Overseas Contingency Operations account isn’t affected by the sequester.
Democrats say it’s not fair that defense spending gets to avoid the sequester, while other federal agencies are stuck with the cuts.
