Delay budget

Senate GOP to delay budget 

By Ben Weyl and Seung Min Kim

Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee said Monday they would delay consideration of a budget this month, the latest example of GOP struggles on both ends of the Capitol to craft a fiscal blueprint this year.

The move comes as Republicans in the House also struggle to come to a consensus on a budget, and boosts the odds that one or both chambers will skip doing a budget altogether this year. That would be an embarrassing outcome for GOP leaders who pledged to write a budget and return Congress to a functioning institution.

“The Senate Budget Committee will continue to discuss the budget as well as improvements to the budget process that would increase fiscal honesty, stability in government operations and the ability to help govern our nation,” Senate Budget Chairman Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) said.

Enzi also noted producing a budget was not crucial to moving forward with appropriations bills to fund the government since Congress passed legislation last year to establish spending levels.

“The Senate already has top-line numbers and budget enforcement features available this year so that a regular order appropriations process can move forward while we continue to discuss broader budget challenges,” he said.

Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), affirmed again Monday that McConnell plans to take up a budget this year.

“The committee is still working toward that,” Stewart said, noting the section in Enzi’s statement that said the Budget panel members “continue to discuss broader budget challenges.”

But Democrats quickly cried foul, with one Senate Democratic leadership aide calling it the “height of hypocrisy” from Republicans because they repeatedly chastised Democrats for passing on doing a budget when they controlled the Senate.

“The Republican agenda of slashing entitlements and key middle class programs in order to heap more tax cuts on the wealthy and special interests is a loser at the polls,” the aide said. “So it’s no surprise they want to keep their priorities hidden from view.”

The delayed budget resolution is another item on the Senate Republicans’ legislative agenda that has stalled – for now – during this election year. Though the majority is currently making progress on a bill combating the opioid epidemic, an ambitious criminal-justice reform push has sputtered to a halt due to GOP intraparty divisions. An aid package for Flint, Mich., tied to a broader energy bill, is being held up by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans have vowed to ignore any Supreme Court nominee that President Barack Obama will send to the Senate, which is expected soon.

In the House, Speaker Paul Ryan faces sharp resistance among conservatives to moving a leadership-backed budget. House Republicans have also delayed consideration of a budget amid the party's divisions on spending.

Ryan has said it will be up to the House GOP conference on whether they will ultimately move a budget.