8/25/2023 0 Comments Merkels latest leading lame duckHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) view the $2.2 trillion bill that passed the House in early October as the “starting point” for any year-end negotiations. But as The Hill reports, it’s not like the two parties are any closer together on what that might look like, despite many sounding alarms about a resurgence in the pandemic and the likely economic fallout: However congressional leaders decide to resolve the appropriations issue, by an omnibus or a stopgap, there is likely to be some sort of COVID-19 relief (and stimulus) measure attached. And Pelosi pointedly told reporters Friday that Democrats’ leverage will be enhanced once Biden is in the Oval Office. Republicans would not necessarily be upset if appropriations were kicked into next year, delaying Biden’s other priorities. Both parties, Roll Call notes, have incentives (other than convenience) for such a delay: The remaining areas of disagreement and the limited timeframe for negotiations (the lame-duck session is currently scheduled to conclude on December 10, and Congress will take a break for Thanksgiving as well) are leading most observers to predict another stopgap spending bill punting the talks into the next session. Shelby’s bills do not include any emergency pandemic funds, but some virus relief would probably be included in a compromise. Shelby said he and Pelosi are “probably 90 percent together on” the 12 fiscal 2021 appropriations bills he posted last week.īut in order to reach agreement, House Democrats would likely have to drop much of the $233 billion in pandemic emergency spending added to their bills, withdraw various funding restrictions on Trump administration priorities and allow $1 billion or more to be allocated for a southern border wall. Shelby, R-Ala., sounded an optimistic note, saying he and Pelosi had a “good conversation” Wednesday about trying to pass an omnibus…. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard C. Since then, appropriators in both Houses have been beavering away on the 12 bills that would fund the federal government until the end of next September - and have made considerable progress toward an “omnibus” appropriations bill that could be passed in early December. In late September, as the fiscal year 2020 came to a close, Congress passed - and Trump signed - a stopgap spending bill that will expire on December 11. Other than leadership elections, the to-do list for the lame-duck session revolves around spending. In any event, what you see is what you’ll get in terms of the top leadership in both parties and in both congressional chambers, the Senate lineup having been essentially frozen by the close results and the January runoffs. That could be because Pelosi previously headed off a coup effort in 2018 by pledging to step down by 2022. But this year, Pelosi is poised to enter another - and possibly final term - as speaker, with her position as safe as ever despite losing at least six net seats after predicting they’d expand their majority. As Politico observed, Pelosi and her deputies have managed (unless something really unexpected happens literally overnight) to elude collateral damage to their positions.įor the last decade, Pelosi has had the same post-election routine: swiftly quashing whispers of an insurrection as a handful of members look to end her long tenure as leader. But no drama is expected here - even among House Democrats, whose losses incited the usual media-inflated intraparty quarreling. This week, the focus is on leadership elections for next year. In the meantime, Congress has some unfinished business to wrap up. The big flip, of course, was in the control of the White House, but Donald Trump’s refusal to concede defeat (which could go on until the end of time), will cast a pall over the lame-duck session, particularly if the Republican Party continues to back up his bizarre claim that he is preparing for a second term. Democrats surprisingly lost a chunk of their majority in the House but still have an opportunity to take control of the Senate if they can achieve two runoff victories in Georgia on January 5. The elections did not generate a massive change in the balance of power in Congress. Congress returns this week for a so-called “lame-duck session” prior to implementation of the 2020 election results and the swearing in of the 117th Congress on or around January 3 (which falls on a Sunday in 2021).
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