What’s Up in Congress

Posted on February 4, 2013

Today

The House is in at 2:00pm with votes expected at 6:30pm on the Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act (HR 297), the Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act (HR 235), and the National Pediatric Research Network Act (HR 225). The Senate is also back at 2:00pm and at 5:30pm will hold a key procedural vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (S 47).

Last week

Congress approved legislation last week to delay a debate on raising the debt limit by allowing the Treasury Department to borrow whatever it needs from now through May 18^th without regard to the statutory $16.39 trillion debt ceiling. The measure also would impose “no budget, no pay” rules, deferring payment of congressional salaries after April 15^th until approval of a budget resolution in both the House and Senate chambers. The bill now awaits the President’s signature.

This Week

The Congressional Budget Office is due to release its annual Budget and Economic Outlook on Tuesday.
The House Budget Committee holds a hearing on the CBO’s Budget and Economic Outlook with agency chief Douglas W. Elmendorf on Wednesday.
The House considers legislation (HR 444) this week that would require the President to submit an alternative budget if his fiscal 2014 proposal is not a balanced budget.
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday at 9:30am titled “American Competitiveness: The Role of Research and Development.”

“No Budget, No Pay” Bill Proceeds in the Senate

Posted on January 31, 2013

Today the Senate is expected to proceed on HR 325, the House-passed “No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013” that would raise the debt ceiling through May while also making the payout of congressional salary contingent upon approval of a budget resolution in each chamber. The measure that passed the House earlier this month would suspend enforcement of the federal borrowing limit until May 18^th and then raise the debt limit the following day to the debt accumulated to that point. The bill the House approved did not include cuts in exchange for the extension as House GOP members had previously demanded. The Senate is expected to approve the measure, although it may be amended and sent back to the House for approval.

Sequestration Now Seems Likely

Posted on January 28, 2013

With just a month to go before sequestration is schedule to take effect, many on Capitol Hill now seem to accept that sequestration is likely to happen on March 1^st. This may be in part because Congress is also facing the expiration of the current continuing resolution (CR) just a few weeks after (March 27^th), which they believe will provide an opportunity to address federal spending and maybe mitigating some of the impacts of sequestration. And there are others who believe the sequester will not be as bad as first thought since the original cuts that were to take effect on January 2^nd were modified by the fiscal-cliff deal. The cuts overall would be $24 billion less than in the original sequester, and the percentage by which domestic spending would be cut falls markedly. The original sequestration required under the August 2011 Budget Control Act (PL 112-25) would have cut spending by $109 billion beginning January 2^nd. Now, as modified by the fiscal cliff law, the sequestration would cut spending by $85 billion starting March 1^st. This translates to a 5.1% cut to non-defense discretionary spending for FY2013 as opposed to the 8.2% cut mandated by the original sequestration.

That 3-week window between the sequestration deadline and expiration of the CR gives Congress and the White House time to reach agreement to fund the government for the rest of FY2013 as well as deal with the automatic cuts, perhaps by replacing them in part or in full with other deficit reduction efforts.

House Temporary Debt Deal May Force Larger Deal on Spending Cuts

Posted on January 23, 2013January 23, 2013

Update: The House this afternoon passed their bill that would suspend the debt ceiling until the middle of May. The vote was 285-144. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Wednesday that the Senate will pass the House’s bill; the White House has indicated it will not block the measure.

The House will consider legislation today would provide for a short-term suspension of the nation’s borrowing limit, which likely removes the threat of a government default for at least four months. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has promised his members that he will work with House Budget Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI) to advance a budget that will balance the federal budget in 10 years and said the automatic spending cuts due to hit March 2^nd (sequestration) will remain in place unless other reductions are made. Democrats appear to be mildly supporting the House GOP’s efforts. The White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy on Tuesday saying President Obama “would not oppose a short-term solution to the debt limit.” The House is expected to pass the bill today.

The Senate has acknowledged that the four-month suspension could buy Congress time to work out a broader bipartisan budget deal. But, as always, the devil will be in the details. It does seem all but certain that large budget cuts are coming for FY2013 – even though this fiscal year is nearly half over.

The big questions remain: will cuts come through sequestration or a more targeted approach directed by Congress, will cuts be evenly applied to defense and non-defense discretionary programs, and will cuts to discretionary spending be tempered by savings found through entitlement reform?

House GOP Proposes to Delay Debt Ceiling Fight

Posted on January 22, 2013

Amid all the pomp and circumstance yesterday, House Republicans released their proposal to postpone a fight over increasing the nation’s debt limit by suspending it until May 19^th. The measure, which is expected to be considered on the House floor tomorrow, would suspend the debt limit through May 18^th and then provide for an automatic increase in the current $16.4 trillion limit to match the amount of the government’s outstanding debt plus new obligations “to fund a commitment incurred by the federal government that required payment before May 19.” The proposed legislation also would suspend salaries to lawmakers in either chamber that does not adopt a FY2014 budget resolution by April 15^th, as required by the 1974 budget law.

If this legislation is approved by both chambers, it could take one of the three big “fiscal cliff part two” issues off the table and give lawmakers time to focus on two other fiscal issues confronting Congress: the sequester and the continuing resolution (CR) funding the government, both due to hit in March. Many Washington insiders believe the GOP plan might help take the pressure off spending battles on Capitol Hill by allowing Congress to return to creating budget resolutions in each chamber that could be debated in conference and passed through reconciliation. Many might recall this as “regular order” – something we haven’t seen in several years. According to CQ, a Senate budget resolution also could offer a path to greater deficit reduction over time because lawmakers could address specific programs and policies, a difficult proposition under continuing resolutions. Moreover, if the House and the Senate budget committees can work together in conference, it would make it possible to achieve deficit reduction through the reconciliation process, which forbids Senate filibusters.

However, it is not yet unclear if the Senate Democrats will go along with this strategy. We should know more in by next week as the clock is ticking down to the next fiscal crisis.