The U.S. House on Tuesday passed a spending bill that would keep the government open past Thursday and provide a full-year boost to defense funding, as lawmakers tried to speed toward a massive budget deal before the end of the week.
Across the Capitol, leaders in both parties said they were nearing a broader deal to lift the strict spending caps that have contributed to the stopgap nature of government funding bills in recent months.
The House voted 245-182 to pass its bill, which holds most domestic spending at current levels through March 23.
It also includes a budget-busting $659 billion for the Pentagon through September — a top priority for defense hawks but one Senate Democrats say they’ll oppose without a similar boost for spending on domestic programs.
“This legislation provides more time to reach a long-term deal on spending levels, while immediately providing our military with the resources they need, especially at this difficult time,” said Rep. Pete Sessions, Texas Republican and chairman of the House Rules Committee, which sets the parameters for debate.
The bill also includes a two-year extension for community health centers, emergency money for the Small Business Administration for disaster loans, and a number of unrelated health care provisions.
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But Democrats said the gambit is proof that Republicans are squandering their majorities, pointing out that it will be the fifth temporary spending bill since September. The 2018 fiscal year started on Oct. 1.
“I think this proposal… is absolute proof that the majority is unable to govern,” said Rep. Louise Slaughter, the ranking Democrat on the rules committee.
“I think the United States of America is really getting close to some tipping point here, and we can’t pussyfoot around,” she said.
As it stands, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Tuesday that pairing a long-term boost for defense with a short-term extension for domestic programs wouldn’t be able to pass the Senate.
Republicans, though, are pushing for a bigger boost on the defense side, saying discretionary spending limits have fallen disproportionately on the military since 2011, when lawmakers approved the caps.
But both Mr. Schumer and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did say they’re optimistic on striking a long-sought deal to lift the spending caps for both defense and non-defense, reportedly by some $300 billion over two years.
Mr. McConnell said lawmakers are on their way to getting a caps agreement “very soon,” and Mr. Schumer said they’re closer than they ever have been to a deal.
Mr. Schumer said the Democrats’ negotiating position had not changed: they were looking for increases in defense spending to be met with equivalent increases in domestic spending, or what they are now calling “middle class programs.”
Recasting the spending debate as a struggle to protect the middle class, Mr. Schumer took to referring to discretionary spending as a collection of “middle class priorities.”
The spending items mentioned by Democrats included education, veterans health care, opioid addition and broadband internet.
Mr. Schumer also said some might want to see agreement to increase the debt ceiling be part of the deal, though he cautioned that there wasn’t yet agreement on that.
The Congressional Budget Office said recently that the Treasury Department would most likely run out of cash to pay the country’s bills in the first half of March.
An agreement on the caps could incentivize lawmakers from both parties to avoid another shutdown showdown, though some Democrats still want to hold out for more demands on new protections for young illegal immigrant “Dreamers” — a sticking point that helped contribute to a three-day partial shutdown of the government last month.
Republicans have insisted that the immigration debate be separated from spending negotiations.
But President Trump inserted a major new demand into the sensitive talks on Tuesday, calling for another shutdown if lawmakers don’t pass new border security measures as part of an immigration deal.
“If we have to shut it down because the Democrats don’t want safety … then shut it down,” Mr. Trump said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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