Battles over government spending levels, an impeachment of President Biden, aid to Ukraine and border security will be at the forefront for Congress as the Senate returns to work Tuesday aiming for a short-term funding measure to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Lawmakers have less than four weeks before the Sept. 30 deadline to agree on a stopgap spending measure while work proceeds slowly on funding the government for the next fiscal year.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said in a letter to fellow Democrats that the top priority for the upper chamber is avoiding a shutdown.
“Our focus will be on funding the government and preventing House Republican extremists from forcing a government shutdown,” Mr. Schumer said.
Tangled in the spending fight is a potential House vote on opening an impeachment inquiry of Mr. Biden, involving slow-moving investigations of his family’s financial dealings. Some House Republicans say the president should face impeachment over evidence of his involvement in a family influence-peddling scheme dating to his time as vice president and for his failure to cooperate with investigators.
No direct evidence has been presented so far showing that Mr. Biden profited from business deals involving his son Hunter.
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Speaker Kevin McCarthy, California Republican, said last week that an impeachment inquiry will move forward only with a formal House vote. In 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, unilaterally announced an impeachment probe of President Trump’s handling of Ukraine.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, has said she will vote against any government funding unless the House approves an impeachment inquiry of the president. The White House responded by warning that House Republicans shouldn’t allow the “hardcore fringe of their party” to force a government shutdown.
Rep. Claudia Tenney, New York Republican, said the House needs “to go into impeachment right now” despite reluctance by some Republicans in swing districts. She said Congress should be able to multitask on spending and impeachment when it returns from recess.
“We have to do it all,” Ms. Tenney said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “These are tough times, and they call for tough measures.”
In a private conference call last week, Mr. McCarthy urged House Republicans to back a short-term spending deal to avoid a partial shutdown and focus on the larger funding fight later in the fall, sources on the call told CNN. He said the yearlong spending bills to fund federal agencies provide a better battleground for Republicans to secure cuts and policy changes such as border security and Pentagon programs.
Mr. Schumer and Mr. McCarthy have discussed the need for a stopgap spending measure that would fund the government at fiscal 2023 levels, likely into November, until lawmakers finish work on the slate of 12 longer-term spending measures. If Congress doesn’t agree on funding levels by Jan. 1, automatic spending cuts of 1% would take effect.
Mr. Schumer has warned Mr. McCarthy not to cater to demands from the influential House Freedom Caucus and said any short-term spending bill must be bipartisan.
“The only way to avoid a shutdown is through bipartisanship, so I have urged House Republican leadership to follow the Senate’s lead and pass bipartisan appropriations bills,” Mr. Schumer said.
House Freedom Caucus members have given Mr. McCarthy a slate of ultimatums to earn their support for the short-term continuing resolution. The more than 40-member caucus has rebuked the prospect of a “clean” short-term spending measure, which would keep current spending levels and reject any policy riders.
Instead, House conservatives want a measure that includes the Secure the Border Act, addresses what the caucus sees as the weaponization of the Justice Department, and legislation that guts woke Pentagon policies.
The conservative lawmakers have also said they do not fear a government shutdown and view their demands as a way to break the status quo of Washington. Still, Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry, Pennsylvania Republican, told The Washington Times that the caucus is open to compromise on their requests.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is showing some acceptance of Mr. Schumer’s approach. The Kentucky Republican said a short-term measure is likely but lower spending levels advocated by House Republicans would not be “replicated in the Senate.”
“Honestly, it’s a pretty big mess,” Mr. McConnell said last week.
Questions about Mr. McConnell’s health resurfaced last week after he froze up for the second time since late July, possibly from lingering effects of a concussion.
Mr. McConnell was referring to spending levels in Mr. McCarthy and President Biden’s debt-ceiling deal. House Republicans have largely ignored the agreement in favor of spending below the negotiated limits.
The White House is urging lawmakers to pass a short-term spending measure at current funding levels to avoid a shutdown.
An official from the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement that it is clear a short-term measure “will be needed next month.” The statement said the administration is working with Congress to provide “technical assistance needed to avoid severe disruptions to government services.”
Further complicating matters is Mr. Biden’s request for $44 billion in emergency spending, including $24 billion for Ukraine. Of that, $13 billion would go toward military aid for Ukraine’s war with Russia. The president also requested an additional $4 billion on Friday for disaster relief on top of his earlier bid for $40 billion.
The request is expected to be attached to a short-term resolution, but House Republicans have vehemently opposed any more spending in Ukraine.
Tying Ukraine spending with disaster relief could spell trouble for Mr. Schumer’s agenda. Sen. Rick Scott, Florida Republican, has demanded an immediate vote on his legislation to inject $12.5 billion into FEMA’s disaster relief fund to aid Florida, California and Hawaii.
Mr. Scott has urged the Biden administration to decouple the disaster funding built into the president’s request from Ukraine spending.
Mr. Schumer has a full plate heading the Senate’s first week back in Washington. His first move is putting the onus of a government shutdown squarely on the shoulders of House Republicans.
“We cannot afford the brinkmanship or hostage-taking we saw from House Republicans earlier this year when they pushed our country to the brink of default to appease the most extreme members of their party,” he said, referring to the partisan feud in late spring that resulted in the agreement to raise the nation’s borrowing limit.
The House advanced a bill to fund military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs before punting the other 11 measures until after the August recess. House lawmakers do not return to Washington until the second week of September.
Also still simmering in the Senate is the blockade by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Alabama Republican, of senior military promotions. His objections are based on the Pentagon’s policy on abortion, and there is no end in sight for breaking the impasse.
A majority of voters want Congress to avoid careening the government into a partial shutdown, according to a poll from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
The survey, based on data from Democratic and Republican opinion firms, found that 90% of voters want lawmakers to work together to prevent a shutdown and to turn their focus on the national debt.
The Senate has advanced all of its spending measures through committee but has not had a floor vote on any of the dozen bills. Mr. Schumer hopes to move at least some of the spending measures to the floor by mid-September.
He has lauded efforts led by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray, Washington Democrat, and ranking member Susan M. Collins, Maine Republican, as “strongly bipartisan” in advancing the spending measures through the committee.
• Ramsey Touchberry contributed to this report.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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