Break time over for Congress
Averting government shutdown, tax reform among tasks
WASHINGTON — Thecrushof unfinished business facing lawmakers when they return to the Capitol would be daunting even if Washington were functioning at peak efficiency.
It’s an agenda whose core items — tax cuts, a potential government shutdown, lots of leftover spending bills — could unravel just as easily as advance in factionalism, gamesmanship and a toxic political environment.
There’s only a four-week window until a Christmas deadline, and President Donald Trump and congressional leaders plan a meeting Tuesday to discuss how to sidestep a shutdown and work though the legislative to-do list.
Democrats and Republicans have reasons to cooperate, particularly on spending increases for the Pentagon and domestic agencies whose budgets otherwise would be frozen. An additional round of hurricane aid should be bipartisan, and efforts to reauthorize a popular health care program for children seem to be on track.
Republicans are advancing their cherished tax cut measure under special rules that mean Senate Democrats cannot use delaying tactics. The measure passed the House just before the Thanksgiving break and moves to the Senate floor this coming week.
Still, GOP deficit hawks such as Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona remain uneasy about the overhaul.
While Democrats are sidelined on taxes, they hold leverage over a mix of budget-related issues.
First, there’s the need to avert a government shutdown after a temporary spending bill expires on Dec. 8. The most likely scenario, congressional aides say, is for an additional extension until Christmas. On a parallel track are talks to raise spending limits that are keeping agency budgets frozen unless those caps are raised. If that happens, then talks could start in earnest on a massive catchall spending measure in hopes of having it signed into law by year’s end.
Talks on the spending caps are stuck, aides say. A GOP offer to lift the Pentagon budget by more than $54 billion next year and nondefense limits by $37 billion was rejected by Democrats demanding balance between the two sides of the ledger.