Category: Budget

Today marks the seventh day of the government shutdown, with no end in sight as both sides show no signs of compromising. It is becoming increasingly clear that the end of the government shutdown will be tied to a broader deal on raising the debt ceiling – likely to be the focus of debate in Congress this week. The starting point for negotiations seems to be that Democrats will oppose either a delay or defunding of the health care law, and many liberals say they’ll also block cuts Republicans want to make to Social Security and Medicare. The GOP will oppose any tax increases and may insist that long-term spending cuts should be the price for any debt limit hike.

Meanwhile, the House will continue to bring up short-term “mini-CRs” to reopen portions of government even though the Senate has refused to consider such an approach. Today the House is set to consider a bill to restart operations at the Food and Drug Administration.

Also in the House, Democrats are advancing discharge petition to bring up a GOP bill that automatically funds the government through November 15^th. Democrats believe there are enough votes to support the plan if they could just bring it to the floor for a vote. So far Speaker Boehner has opposed bringing a clean CR bill to the floor for consideration.

And finally, the shutdown will end for most Defense Department civilian employees as they have been called back to work today. This comes after a legal ruling by the Justice and Defense departments that found the administration could eliminate furloughs for employees whose responsibilities contribute to the morale, well-being, capabilities, and readiness of servicemembers.

As the federal government shutdown enters day two, there are no signs of a quick resolution. Instead it now appears that this shutdown could last for a couple of weeks and will only be resolved as part of a larger deal to increase the debt limit in exchange for concessions on government spending and maybe even on health reform implementation.

Yesterday House Republicans brought up three bills to fund specific areas of government through December 15^th. These “mini-CRs” would allow temporary funding for the National Park Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as allow the District of Columbia to use its own revenue to keep operating. The Democrats dismissed the tactic and reiterated their demand for a “clean” CR free of policy riders that would defund or delay the health-care overhaul. All three measures were called up under a suspension of the rules, which meant they required a two-thirds majority to pass. Only a handful of Democrats broke ranks to support the bills and so they all were defeated. All three measures will be brought up again this morning under regular rules so they can be passed by a simple majority, but they have little chance of advancing in the Senate and also drew a White House veto threat on Tuesday.

All of the political antics over the CR is just the opening act of what many are predicting will be a much bigger battle as the federal government is due to hit it borrowing limit on October 17^th. The shutdown could continue until then and used as leverage to bring about a “grand bargain” that would resolve the debt limit, FY14 funding, and sequestration, as well as opening up ongoing negotiations on a long list of policy provisions favored by Republicans. They could include delaying implementation of the health care law for a year, instructions for a revenue-neutral tax overhaul, approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, a rewrite of financial regulations, new spending cuts, and other changes.

But absolutely nothing is certain right now except that federal government remains closed and Members of Congress continue to play the blame game.

The federal government shutdown is now in full effect. Initially many federal workers were allowed to go into work this morning to receive furlough notices and implement shutdown plans – cancelling meetings, setting up out-of-office replies on email, and dropping off their Blackberries with IT personnel. And while there are some federal workers who have been deemed “essential personnel” and are lucky enough to be at work, there is no guarantee that they will be paid.

On Capitol Hill, elected officials are still discussing ways to move forward and get government up and running again. The Senate Democratic leadership, with support from the White House, continue to push for a “clean” continuing resolution (CR) to run through November 15^th and allow time to come to agreement on how best to fund federal government for FY14. House Republican leadership continue to argue that health care reform delays must be included in any CR in order to get support from a majority of their members.

In a surprise (not) move, House GOP has announced that this afternoon they will bring up for consideration three separate CR bills to continue funding National Park Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as allow the District of Columbia to use its own revenue to keep operating. The bills will not include extraneous policy riders regarding health care reform and would allow some key federal operations to resume while larger negotiations continue surrounding the FY14 funding. All of the mini-CRs would run through December 15^th and fund agencies at the same level as proposed under the comprehensive CR that both chambers have been battling over for the past week and a half.

Senate Democrats have already indicated that they will not support the GOP’s piecemeal approach.