Avoiding a Shutdown
The border wall question is tied to Congress’s need to finance the government beyond Dec. 7, when stopgap spending expires for several major agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service and the National Park Service. Those agencies and some others would shut down if an agreement can’t be reached.
Most other agencies already are funded for the full fiscal year, including Defense, Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services.
Senate Democrats and Republicans have proposed giving Trump $1.6 billion in border security funding. House Republicans and the White House are seeking $5 billion, down from earlier demands of $23 billion. Congressional staff say they could shift money around to accommodate the extra border funding without cutting funds for Democratic priorities.
Democrats are betting that Trump will back down. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told reporters last week that both chambers “have come to agreements without any muss or fuss” on spending bills this year. He urged the president to stay on the sidelines on border security, saying lawmakers already are on track to resolve that on their own.
“I would hope the president would not interfere and we would get something done,” Schumer said.
Self-Driving Cars
The spending bills could become vehicles to win passage of other important measures, including legislation intended to encourage the use of self-driving cars. A Senate bill stalled amid opposition from some Democrats, including California’s Dianne Feinstein, and resistance from trial lawyers over legal protections for consumers. Backers including Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, and Senator Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat, are pushing for a consensus.
The House passed a self-driving car bill in 2017 with bipartisan support. The two bills are different in key ways but have similar concepts. Both aim to support the use of self-driving automobiles and would set a timeline for regulators to write rules for them. The measures would pre-empt state and local rules on design, performance and safety. While backed by industry, the bills are opposed by safety advocates who cite oversight shortcomings.
On the farm bill, lawmakers are working on a five-year measure to reauthorize farm subsidies, crop insurance and the food stamp program. Without a deal, farmers who are already struggling under new Chinese tariffs amid Trump’s trade war would begin to feel the effects of lost subsidies beginning in January.
The House and Senate have passed largely similar bills, but they disagree over food stamps. The House, backed by Trump, would shift some food stamp money from benefits to workforce training, while raising from 49 to 59 the age at which able-bodied adults must work or receive training. The House also would add work requirements for households with children age 6 and older.
‘A Little Tricky’
Speaking Friday to reporters in his home state of Kentucky, McConnell said getting a compromise will be “a little tricky” but that both sides will “get there.”