By Kelsey Snell and Karoun Demirjian
Congressional leaders are preparing for days of heavy negotiations over a year-end spending bill as lawmakers try to reach a deal before Friday and avert a government shutdown. After days of scrambling to hammer out an agreement, negotiators are still deadlocked over several policy riders that GOP lawmakers want to attach to the must-pass legislation as well as over what do with a package of tax breaks that could also be added to the bill.
Key lawmakers said how long to extend the tax breaks for businesses and individuals has become a particularly thorny issue, with some members worried about the cost of the package and others complaining there are too many giveaways to corporate interests.
But with time ticking down, the White House is seeking to pressure Congress to get the bill done. White House spokesman Joshua Earnest said that President Obama would not sign a short-term CR in order to give negotiators more time to strike a deal. If lawmakers reach an agreement before Friday, however, Earnest did not rule out the possibility of agreeing to a stop-gap bill to give Congress time to finish procedural work.
Aides and lawmakers said the talks over the spending and tax packages are increasingly intertwined as House and Senate leaders work to craft a deal that would allow both parties to claim some policy victories.
Republicans have been pushing to make permanent several business breaks, including the credit for research and development and small business expensing, and in exchange were offering to permanently extend the Child Tax Credit and expand the Earned Income tax credit, both priorities for Democrats. Under that plan the remaining breaks would be extended for two years.
But some negotiators from both parties worry the estimated $700bn to $800bn price tag for a tax extender package could be too expensive for lawmakers to support. This has led to talks of moving a bill that retroactively reauthorizes all of the expired programs for one year and extends them for one year going forward.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch told reporters on Monday that he expects the House will pass a two-year bill this week and negotiators will continue to work on a broader deal.
Democratic votes will likely be needed to pass the omnibus appropriations bill in the House because a group of conservatives is likely to oppose the legislation over spending levels and because it will provide money for some programs they oppose.
Democrats are using this leverage to push Republicans to get rid of some of the riders that were included in the initial offer, which they say remain an issue in the negotiations.
Many Republicans, however, feel getting some of the policy provisions into the bill is key after the earlier deal to increase overall spending. The list of demands from Republicans includes increasing screening for refugees from Syria and Iraq, giving states the power to deny some federal funds to abortion providers, scaling back environmental and banking regulations, and giving health care providers the right to object to providing certain services that go against their religious beliefs.
Democrats said they will not budge on any riders aimed at attacking abortion rights, curbing funds for Planned Parenthood or undermining President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. But several aides and lobbyists said they expect Democrats might be willing to accept some changes to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill.
Republicans have floated the possibility of increasing the threshold at which banks face increased scrutiny from the Federal Reserve. That may be appealing to some moderate Democrats but would almost certainly draw the ire of liberals like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) who was enraged when leaders eased financial regulations in a similar spending bill last year.
Campaign finance could be another area of compromise. Conservatives worry that the proposed changes would give greater electoral control to mainstream party leaders. Aides said the campaign finance rule could possibly be adapted to ease those concerns by including language that would allow the rule to apply to potential third party committees that might be created in the future.
The fate of environmental regulations remains dicey. McConnell has said for months that he plans to use the appropriations process to hammer away at Obama’s recent executive actions aimed at air and water pollution. Republicans have insisted that funding for those regulations be rolled back in the upcoming spending bill, according to aides and lobbyists.
The discussion comes at an awkward time for Obama who just returned from a global climate summit in Paris. The ongoing talks are aimed at working out a long-term international agreement to curb climate change. Scaling back regulations now could weaken U.S. negotiators by proving that Congress can move to undo any promises made by the White House.
Washington Post
By Kelsey Snell and Karoun Demirjian
Congressional leaders are preparing for days of heavy negotiations over a year-end spending bill as lawmakers try to reach a deal before Friday and avert a government shutdown. After days of scrambling to hammer out an agreement, negotiators are still deadlocked over several policy riders that GOP lawmakers want to attach to the must-pass legislation as well as over what do with a package of tax breaks that could also be added to the bill.
Key lawmakers said how long to extend the tax breaks for businesses and individuals has become a particularly thorny issue, with some members worried about the cost of the package and others complaining there are too many giveaways to corporate interests.
But with time ticking down, the White House is seeking to pressure Congress to get the bill done. White House spokesman Joshua Earnest said that President Obama would not sign a short-term CR in order to give negotiators more time to strike a deal. If lawmakers reach an agreement before Friday, however, Earnest did not rule out the possibility of agreeing to a stop-gap bill to give Congress time to finish procedural work.
Aides and lawmakers said the talks over the spending and tax packages are increasingly intertwined as House and Senate leaders work to craft a deal that would allow both parties to claim some policy victories.
Republicans have been pushing to make permanent several business breaks, including the credit for research and development and small business expensing, and in exchange were offering to permanently extend the Child Tax Credit and expand the Earned Income tax credit, both priorities for Democrats. Under that plan the remaining breaks would be extended for two years.
But some negotiators from both parties worry the estimated $700bn to $800bn price tag for a tax extender package could be too expensive for lawmakers to support. This has led to talks of moving a bill that retroactively reauthorizes all of the expired programs for one year and extends them for one year going forward.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch told reporters on Monday that he expects the House will pass a two-year bill this week and negotiators will continue to work on a broader deal.
Democratic votes will likely be needed to pass the omnibus appropriations bill in the House because a group of conservatives is likely to oppose the legislation over spending levels and because it will provide money for some programs they oppose.
Democrats are using this leverage to push Republicans to get rid of some of the riders that were included in the initial offer, which they say remain an issue in the negotiations.
Many Republicans, however, feel getting some of the policy provisions into the bill is key after the earlier deal to increase overall spending. The list of demands from Republicans includes increasing screening for refugees from Syria and Iraq, giving states the power to deny some federal funds to abortion providers, scaling back environmental and banking regulations, and giving health care providers the right to object to providing certain services that go against their religious beliefs.
Democrats said they will not budge on any riders aimed at attacking abortion rights, curbing funds for Planned Parenthood or undermining President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. But several aides and lobbyists said they expect Democrats might be willing to accept some changes to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill.
Republicans have floated the possibility of increasing the threshold at which banks face increased scrutiny from the Federal Reserve. That may be appealing to some moderate Democrats but would almost certainly draw the ire of liberals like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) who was enraged when leaders eased financial regulations in a similar spending bill last year.
Campaign finance could be another area of compromise. Conservatives worry that the proposed changes would give greater electoral control to mainstream party leaders. Aides said the campaign finance rule could possibly be adapted to ease those concerns by including language that would allow the rule to apply to potential third party committees that might be created in the future.
The fate of environmental regulations remains dicey. McConnell has said for months that he plans to use the appropriations process to hammer away at Obama’s recent executive actions aimed at air and water pollution. Republicans have insisted that funding for those regulations be rolled back in the upcoming spending bill, according to aides and lobbyists.
The discussion comes at an awkward time for Obama who just returned from a global climate summit in Paris. The ongoing talks are aimed at working out a long-term international agreement to curb climate change. Scaling back regulations now could weaken U.S. negotiators by proving that Congress can move to undo any promises made by the White House.
Washington Post
