Trump Demands Throw Wrench Into Lawmaker Talks on Spending Bill

by Dramelin 7:30 AM 0 comments

House and Senate members are struggling to negotiate a $1.
2 trillion spending bill needed to keep the government open after March 23, and President Donald Trump isn’t making their job any easier.
The president is causing headaches for negotiators with his demand to strip funding for a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey, as well as his longstanding insistence on money for a U.
-Mexico border wall and his shifting positions on immigration policy.
While lawmakers still have more than two weeks to reach an agreement, there’s a risk that some or all of the government will again be put on autopilot instead of getting the new funds called for in a budget deal Congress passed Feb.
“It’s always a challenge but I’m sure we’ll get there," said second-ranking Senate Republican John Cornyn of Texas.
Separately, Cornyn said it’s too early to talk about using the spending bill to block Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, which has broad Republican opposition.
“Rather than have just have a reflexive response I’d like to learn a bit more about it," Cornyn said.
"The president hasn’t acted yet.
” The Easy Part The 12-part spending bill to implement the budget deal was supposed to be the easy part after Trump and congressional leaders agreed to raise the spending cap for the current fiscal year by $143 billion.
Of that, $80 billion in new money goes to defense, a top Republican priority.
 The fiscal year runs through the end of September.
The spending plan would allocate the money to federal agencies.
Lawmakers hope to complete talks this week so the House can vote on it next week and the Senate can vote the following week.
But none of the 12 parts have been completed so far.
Adding to the woes is Trump’s pressure on Republicans not to include funds for the Hudson River tunnel project, known as Gateway, in the transportation section of the bill.
He told House Speaker Paul Ryan last week that he wants to make sure no federal money is provided in part because Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York has held up some administration nominees, according to people with knowledge of the discussion.
  The draft bill allocates $900 million, and the funding is a key priority for House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey.
But Frelinghuysen angered fellow Republicans by opposing the tax overhaul last year because it would raise taxes for many New Jersey homeowners.
He also has announced that he will not seek re-election.
As a result, he is seen as having less power to ensure that the Gateway spending remains in the legislation.
Getting a spending bill passed in the House without the Gateway funding could be difficult.
Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus are already expected to oppose the bill over its extra spending.
That means members of the New York and New Jersey delegation may be needed to pass it.
  New York’s Peter King, who represents a district on Long Island, said he is among House Republicans who would reject the spending measure unless the Gateway money is included.
“I don’t see how I can vote for the bill without that in there," King said.
Border Funding Trump’s demands on the border wall and immigration also are causing difficulties.
Republicans are seeking to include $1.
6 billion to help finance the wall, and last year Democrats indicated they may go along with the request if it were labeled "border security funding" that the department could allocate as it saw fit.
That was before Trump decided to cancel a program shielding undocumented immigrants brought to the U.
as children from being deported.
Representative Nita Lowey of New York, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said last week that House Democrats won’t support any wall funding without immigration changes protecting those so-called dreamers.
Congress could require some government agencies to continue operating under current funding levels if lawmakers can’t agree on providing money for them.
Those facing difficulties include the section funding the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Education, and the one funding the Treasury Department and financial regulatory agencies, according to a Democratic aide.
Phantom Cuts Republicans have decided to limit an accounting maneuver that uses phantom cuts in entitlement spending to allow increases in agency operating budgets.
The limit would effectively give lawmakers $5 billion less to spend than would otherwise be allowed by the budget deal.
The Labor-HHS-Education and Financial Services sections would be especially affected by this.
The Financial Services bill faces a $1 billion cut even as Republicans seek to provide $400 million to the Internal Revenue Service to implement the tax overhaul.
For the Labor-HHS-Education bill, that would mean increases with bipartisan support such as for medical research and to combat the opioid epidemic wouldn’t be put into effect.
The HHS section of the bill is also involved in a dispute over how Title 10 family planning funds are allocated, according to aides.
Senate Democrat Tom Udall of New Mexico said the environmental spending bill is in dispute over Republican attempts to use the measure to limit regulations.
— With assistance by Billy House.