McConnell tees up debt, government-funding vote
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is turning the Senate toward a short-term deal to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government.
McConnell set up an initial vote late Wednesday night on a multibillion-dollar Hurricane Harvey recovery bill. The Senate is attaching the short-term funding measure and debt-ceiling hike, both of which run through Dec. 8, on to the House-passed legislation.
Under Senate rules the first vote on the package is scheduled for Friday unless lawmakers get a deal to skip over procedural speed bumps.
An update on Wednesday night from Senate Democratic staff noted that “discussions continue on a path forward to completing action on it this week.”
{mosads}Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, quickly urged support for the deal after McConnell brought it up on the Senate floor.
“The legislation before the Senate would address the nation’s most pressing needs. The serious nature of the natural disasters and fiscal commitments before us demand the Senate and House act without delay,” he said.
McConnell’s maneuver comes after President Trump appeared to shock congressional Republicans during a closed-door White House meeting by agreeing to a Democratic demand for a three-month debt-ceiling increase.
Republicans had wanted a longer 18-month extension that would have punted the political lightning rod until after the 2018 midterm elections.
Conservatives quickly balked after Trump and Democrats announced the deal. Rank-and-file members support help for Hurricane Harvey victims but are wary of passing legislation that increases the debt ceiling or funds the government without entitlement or spending reforms.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wanted to attach spending cuts to the House legislation to help pay for the hurricane recovery funds. The offsets would have come from money set aside for foreign aid, but not yet spent.
“As the Senate prepares to vote on hurricane aid, I will be introducing an ‘America First’ amendment to cut wasteful spending from abroad to pay for much-needed relief here at home,” Paul said in a statement.
A spokesman for Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) also predicted he wouldn’t support it. And Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) simply called the agreement “bad.”
GOP leadership will need the support of at least eight Democratic senators even if they can win over every Republican lawmaker — a move that appears unlikely.
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