Congressional Republicans

GOP looks to back Obama into a corner

Congressional Republicans are angling for some big wins before the New Year. 

By Seung Min Kim

With just two weeks left until the government runs out of money, there is increasing pressure from congressional Republicans to use a must-pass spending bill to force President Barack Obama into accepting several controversial policy riders — including new curbs on the Syrian resettlement program.

Sporting solid majorities in both chambers, Republicans are angling for some big wins in the first year-end shutdown fight since the GOP took control of Capitol Hill. But it will be a challenge to secure enough concessions from Democrats to mollify the right wing while avoiding the political risks of shutdown brinkmanship.

After Obama and congressional Democrats stymied their agenda for years, Republicans see the end-of-year funding bill due Dec. 11 as their best path for achieving their top policy priorities. They reason Democrats will accept some riders — especially measures with bipartisan backing — to avoid a knock-down, drag-out shutdown fight this December.

The universe of the hundreds of possible policy riders is vast, and many issues could be potential land mines. But rollbacks of Obama’s environmental and financial regulations are among some of the stickiest areas, Democratic aides said. Meanwhile, Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), are lobbying to loosen some campaign finance regulations. And there is the mounting pressure from dozens of GOP lawmakers to curb the flow of refugees fleeing war-torn Syria into the United States in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris.

“Why wouldn’t it be included in the omnibus? This is not a poison pill,” said Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) about the provisions dealing with the Syrian resettlement program. “That’s the story of this bill, if you have a veto-proof majority in the House, despite the pressure [from the White House], how is that a poison pill?”

Congressional negotiators were still hashing out the particulars of the massive $1.15 trillion spending bill on Sunday.

“Negotiations have been going over the weekend and are ongoing. Progress is being made,” Jennifer Hing, spokeswoman for House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), said Sunday. “We do not have an update on timing, but it is expected the bill will be ready for the floor prior to the deadline.”

Control of both chambers should give Republicans more leverage in the spending fight, but the GOP will almost certainly need Democratic votes to carry the spending bill over the finish line — giving the minority party at least some say over how the sweeping omnibus legislation turns out.

Still, one senior Democratic aide lamented last week that talks on riders had gotten “nowhere.” And some Democrats are complaining about the level of funding for key government agencies and arguing that spending for some areas, such as the measure that covers labor, health and education programs, is getting shortchanged.

And there are lingering disputes over funding for financial services programs, with Democrats calling for more spending for agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, according to Republicans.

Congress confronted another government shutdown battle in September over Planned Parenthood funding, but the news of the sudden resignation of then-Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) sucked up all of Congress’ attention — and extending government funding became largely a formality. So now, this December’s omnibus spending measure will be the arena for the two parties to fight it out over government spending and what policies Republicans can force on the White House.

A major complication is what to do with Syrian refugees seeking to come to the United States. Congressional Republicans, especially conservative lawmakers, insist that any spending bill include provisions to tighten the vetting process for Syrian refugees. The House passed legislation beefing up those standards before Thanksgiving; McConnell has fast-tracked that bill to the Senate floor but has not yet indicated when it could come up for a vote.

Some GOP lawmakers want to go further. Rep. Brian Babin of Texas sent a letter with 73 GOP co-signers to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Rogers urging them to stop funds for refugee relocation in the spending bill unless the Obama administration puts in place a long-term monitoring system for refugees. The spending limitation would include not just Syrian and Iraqi refugees, but individuals from the Middle East broadly and Northern Africa.

Babin is a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, a group of about 40 Republicans who have largely stated they would support an omnibus only if it includes language on Syria.

As one of the few must-pass bills that has to clear Congress, the spending bill is quickly becoming a magnet for pet priorities. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is calling for repeal of the risk corridors provision in Obamacare — a move Rubio says will shield taxpayer money from bailing out health insurers. But Democrats are insistent that the funding remain intact, Republicans say.

Another collision point is spending for the Green Climate Fund, which is run by the United Nations and helps distribute money to developing countries to deal with the effects of climate change. But congressional Republicans disagree the money should be used that way; Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a member of his chamber’s leadership, penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal last week arguing that the money will end up being wasted.

Meanwhile, campaign finance issues are surfacing during the year-end spending talks again. McConnell has a proposal that would remove limits on parties’ coordination of spending with political candidates. A spokesman for the majority leader said “there is a bipartisan desire to have that provision done,” although the language is not final.

Also on the GOP hit list: blocking the Waters of the United States rule, dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency’s clean power plan, limiting a proposed rule to make financial brokers liable for the investment advice they give, among other proposals.

“There is concern Republicans are not going to back off of them,” a senior Senate Democratic aide said of policy riders. “Democrats are trying to be constructive, but we have said from the beginning we will not accept poison pill ideological riders and we mean that.”

Of course, the spending bill is not the only item on Congress’ agenda as lawmakers sprint to finish their work before the holiday season. Senate Republicans will try to knock off another major item on their to-do list: sending Obama a repeal of his signature health care law.

The House passed legislation dismantling core provisions of Obamacare and defunding Planned Parenthood weeks ago, with just seven dissenting Republican votes. But Senate Republicans have had to navigate a tougher path toward passage, considering the narrower majority they hold in the chamber and resistance from both the conservative and moderate parts of their conference.

Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, both GOP presidential candidates, and Mike Lee of Utah won’t vote for the current Obamacare repeal unless the bill is expanded to eliminate more core provisions of the law. But moderates such as Maine Sen. Susan Collins, Mark Kirk of Illinois and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have objections to defunding Planned Parenthood, which the House-passed version of the bill currently does.

McConnell has called a senators-only meeting on Monday at 6 p.m. to discuss the Obamacare repeal and Planned Parenthood legislation. Republicans plan to use the powerful reconciliation process on the bill: By requiring just a 51-vote simple majority, it would allow Republicans to avoid a Democratic filibuster.

“The bill we need to pass is the House-passed bill,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said. “To me, it makes sense for us to send the president an Obamacare repeal bill that got all but seven Republican votes in the House. It’s what I used to call a no-brainer.”

Republicans are also staring down a deadline for a multiyear highway and transit program before funding for the transportation programs runs out on Friday. That bill would also revive the moribund Export-Import Bank, the export credit agency that shuttered in July because of conservative opposition.

Also on tap for Congress in December are extending a host of expiring tax provisions, a routine task lawmakers face at the end of every year. And congressional negotiators are still plugging away on a conference report for a sweeping rewrite of the No Child Left Behind education law. Lawmakers want to release the House-Senate education compromise on Monday, with passage first in the House and then in the Senate shortly after that.