Monster of a fall awaits Congress after summer break
WASHINGTON — As lawmakers head out of the Capitol for a five-week summer recess, they leave behind a pile of unfinished business that all but guarantees a painful fall.
Not long after they return in September, they face a vote on President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, a brutally divisive issue that many expect will dominate voter town halls during their annual August break.
After seeing more videos about fetal tissue collection practices, Republicans also are increasingly focused on cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood, raising the prospect that Congress will spend September tied in knots over how to avoid shutting down the government over that issue.
Later in the fall or winter, Congress will be faced with raising the federal debt limit, another issue ripe for brinkmanship, especially given the presence in the Senate of several presidential candidates adamantly opposed to an increase.
The House wrapped up its summer session by approving a three-month extension of highway and transit spending and authority, kicking negotiations on a longer-term transportation plan into the fall as well.
Signing the short extension into law Friday at the White House, Mr. Obama said, “We can’t keep on funding transportation by the seat of our pants.” China, Germany and other countries don’t operate that way, he said, chastising lawmakers for delaying budget decisions until the last minute and for letting authorization for the Export-Import Bank expire.
With deadlines also looming to renew authorities for the Federal Aviation Administration, child nutrition standards and pipeline safety, it’s shaping up as a monster of a fall for lawmakers. “If you take a look at all of the things on the list, it’ll be a lot of traffic going through one toll booth,” Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said Thursday.
Rep. Mick Mulvaney, RS.C., who leads a group of 18 conservatives vowing to oppose any spending bill that funds Planned Parenthood, said: “This is one of those line-in-the-sand-type of issues. We have to figure out a way to fund the government without giving any more money to this institution.”
The effort could prevent leaders from extending current spending levels come the new budget year Oct. 1, since Planned Parenthood now receives more than $500 million in government assistance. Yet if Republicans try to use must-pass spending legislation to pull the organization’s funding, they would have trouble getting past Senate Democrats and Mr. Obama.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Friday that a provision added to the bill that would cut off all funds to Planned Parenthood “is certainly something that would draw a presidential veto.” That could leave Republicans, who took control of Congress this year promising to avoid shutdowns and “fiscal cliffs,” backed into a very uncomfortable corner.
“Democrats will unite against them,” said New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the chamber’s No. 3 Democrat. “This is a Republican path to shutdown.”
While the House left town Wednesday, the Senate plans one more week before leaving, with a cybersecurity bill and a largely symbolic vote on defunding Planned Parenthood.
Along with the Iran nuclear deal, the government spending issue tops a long list of thorny disputes that threaten to have Republicans and Democrats at loggerheads for months. The 12 annual spending bills that fund the government are hung up on a variety of disagreements. That leaves Congress facing the likelihood of temporarily extending current spending levels, which gets lawmakers back to the prospect of a showdown over Planned Parenthood.
Republicans are entering their recess after a nasty spate of intraparty brawls laid bare the ongoing conflict between Tea Party-backed conservatives and more pragmatic party leaders on Capitol Hill. That fault line promises to aggravate attempts at compromise throughout the fall. Lawmakers of both parties point to a need for high-level budget negotiations to produce a deal that could resolve some of the major issues, yet nothing like that is underway now.