Fiscal conservatives poised to lose in US spending bill

WASHINGTON: Conservative Republicans are poised to lose another fiscal fight this week as leaders in Congress prepare a US$1.2 trillion government spending bill that will increase domestic costs instead of imposing the cuts they want.

House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plan to rely on Democratic help to push the bill through over the conservatives’ objections. If Congress can’t pass it by Friday night – or agree to a temporary spending extension – the government could partially shut down for the third time this year.

Lawmakers are set to release details of the spending plan late Monday. So far it’s unclear whether the measure will include funding for President Donald Trump’s US-Mexico border wall, money for the Gateway rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey that Trump seeks to block, or immigration provisions sought by Democrats.

Democrats have leverage in the negotiations because the GOP needs their help to get the 60 votes to advance the bill in the Senate. It’s already clear the amount of spending will leave fiscal conservatives fuming.

“I don’t have a whole lot of optimism that there will be any significant conservative wins,” said House Freedom Caucus leader Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican. “Having not seen the bill but having heard about its contents, the lack of conservative principles in there is a disappointment.”

Meadows predicted that many of his colleagues will support the measure, however, because they believe the military needs more funding and the increased domestic spending is a price that must be paid.

The spending bill, which would fund the government through September, will adhere to a February budget-cap agreement that most House Republicans backed over the objection of fiscal conservatives.

Many Republicans voted for the plan because it would boost defence spending by US$80 billion this year, while many Democrats agreed because it would increase non-defense spending by US$63bil.

“The spending levels are going to be egregious,” said Dan Holler, vice-president at Heritage Action for America, the political arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation.

GOP Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, an opponent of increased government spending, delayed a vote on the budget measure, shut- ting down the government for several hours on Feb 9 to protest the added spending.

Most of the 28 senators who opposed the cap deal were Republicans protesting spending.

Congressional spending disputes also led to a three-day partial shutdown in January.

In talks for this week’s spending bill, the White House floated the possibility of adding funds for Trump’s border wall in exchange for Democrats’ demand to temporarily shield from deportation thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.

Trump wants to block US$900mil in the bill that would help fund the Gateway tunnel, which is part of a US$30bil series of repairs and expansions for travel between New Jersey and New York.

The president contends the states need to contribute more to a project coveted by lawmakers from the region including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

The tunnel would supplement a century-old tube that provides the only rail link between New Jersey and Manhattan and is regarded as critical for the Northeast economy. — Bloomberg