Capitol agenda: Shutdown fight coming sooner than you think
By: Calen Razor (POLITICO)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Democrats have a chance before they take power in January to undercut President Donald Trump’s Iran war checkbook. Not everyone is on board.
Lawmakers will have to pass another funding bill by mid-December to avoid a government shutdown. Though Republicans maintain their majorities until the end of the year, some Democrats — ready to flex their new influence after a midterm blowout — want any year-end spending measure to block cash for the military conflict.
But the move could spark a shutdown fight that extends into the next year and overshadows their new majority and other policy goals.
Democrats will have to weigh the pros and cons of instigating a confrontation they won’t necessarily win.
The top Democratic appropriators, at least, didn’t appear to rule out a fight.
“Democrats will absolutely not fund Trump’s war of choice with Iran that has increased costs on American families and made us less safe,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro said Thursday in a statement to POLITICO.
Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Patty Murray, in a statement, also attributed Democrats’ midterm gains to the unpopularity of the Iran conflict: “The American people just voted overwhelmingly to put an end to this war, and we are going to look at every tool we have available to us to bring this disastrous war to an end.”
The top Democrats in both chambers — Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer — have yet to announce whether they will try to use the moment to limit resources for the war.
Jeffries said in a statement that Democrats will have “a leadership conversation” with DeLauro about the war, “but it is clear from this election that the American people are demanding accountability and an end to the war.”
Schumer said in an interview Thursday he’s working with Murray “to get something done” on government funding before the shutdown deadline, but didn’t forecast whether he’d demand a cutoff of dollars.
The party has been consistent for months in its opposition to the Iran conflict and has so far fought off Trump’s requests for a $1.5 trillion military budget and an emergency war funding package.
Still, triggering a shutdown isn’t a risk all Democrats want to take.
“I don’t know where our leadership is on this one, but I would say that definitely there’s got to be a way to wind this down instead of saying, ‘no funding,’” a House Democratic appropriator, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said in an interview.
— BLACK DEMOCRATS WANT SOUTHERN INVESTMENT: Black lawmakers are urging national Democrats to invest in the South after a string of stunning wins were powered by a surge in Black voters. Many of these lawmakers, who have previously chided donors for not investing earlier in promising candidates, like Scott Colom in Mississippi and Angie Nixon in Florida, are actively seeking commitments for future cycles. “You cannot reap for which you don’t sow,” said Rep. Troy Carter, who is poised to chair the Congressional Black Caucus next year. Across House races Tuesday, turnout in counties that are at least 60% Black surged 21 points compared to the last midterm in 2022, according to a POLITICO analysis of preliminary returns. That’s more than double the increase in votes cast nationally in counties where the population is less than 20% Black.
— JEFFRIES KNOCKS PERMITTING DEAL: Jeffries on Thursday said the Senate permitting deal “falls short” and raised concerns about the bill’s proposed changes to bedrock environmental laws and protections for tribal sovereignty. “We must once again support the clean energy economy and combat the climate crisis with the fierce urgency of now,” a spokesperson for Jeffries told POLITICO exclusively. “However, the current Senate bill under consideration falls short in several areas, including the manner in which [National Environmental Policy Act] reform is undertaken and the failure to adequately protect tribal sovereignty.” Jeffries’ criticism complicates the bill’s path to passage during the lame-duck session, with a Senate procedural vote on the package scheduled for Monday.
Jennifer Scholtes, Riley Rogerson and Nico Portuondo contributed to this report.
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The 'new' Democrats look an awful lot like the 'old' Democrats. So much for a 'change election'.
As a wise man once said
"meet the new boss
same as the old boss"
Unfortunately he was wrong when he said
"won't get fooled again".
So, how quickly after January 3rd will the full un-redacted Epstein files be released and when will the court cases commence?
I'll need to fill up my gas tank, when will prices come down?
Lets be honest here, the Republicans fucked up. That's really all that can be said. They treated the voters like idiots thinking nobody would look behind the curtains. People vote mostly based on kitchen table issues and right at the top of the list is the cost for gas, heating and food. It didn't help them at all when Trump pulled a Biden by stating the high gas prices were temporary and would soon come down.
The outcome of the election was rather predictable for those who are willing to look at it honestly. Now the pressure is on the Democrats to actually produce for the American public. Can they do it, remains to be seen. But if they come out pushing harder to "hold Trump and the administration accountable" rather than crafting budgets and legislation to actually benefit the American people, I can predict a different outcome in the 28 election cycle.
Funny how AI sometimes adds limbs and switches extremities around.
The Dumb Years indeed!
Que the but but but Trump excuses anyway
Exactly. He had more faith in his ability to make people believe what he said rather than what they saw.
Agree This is a great opportunity for the dems to push back on their whackadoodles since they have enough votes without coddling to them. But the folks closer to the center have to have the balls to do it.
They also have to have some restraint regarding Trump and his family and spend an appropriate amount of time working on the issues they brought up but have yet to tell us a plan. Nothing they have done in the last 10 years lead me to believe this is possible. Hopefully they can surprise me
I do agree with everything you said. I also think there's one more instance coming up soon where Trump will pull another Biden. I expect a mass pardon effort to start before Christmas to blunt what Democrats may do once they are sworn in and in charge in January.
Biden did it preemptively so I would be surprised if Trump didn't do the same. Especially the more the dems telegraph their plans. He should probably pardon everyone he ever met along with their families. I suggest stocking up on popcorn because the exploding heads on cable news will be a sight to see. It will probably continue as long as they all plead the fifth. Fauci holds the record at 111. It might be broken.
Actually Trump and his children hold the record.
Donald Trump’s Reported Fifth Amendment Invocations
After they were pardoned?