By Jordain Carney and Sarah Ferris - 09/27/16 08:01 PM EDT
Congressional leaders are scrambling to avoid an election-year government shutdown after a funding bill went down to defeat in the Senate on Tuesday, leaving no clear path forward.
Senate Democrats believe they have seized the upper hand with less than 72 hours left to get a funding bill to President Obama’s desk.
They feel emboldened because Republicans failed to secure a simple majority for Tuesday’s proposal to fund the government; roughly a dozen Republicans voted against it, leaving Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) well short of the 60 votes needed to move forward.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) suggested Democrats were entering the final days of negotiations with an advantage because McConnell got “pasted” during Tuesday’s procedural vote.
McConnell “needs Democrats to pass this thing, so we need to talk to him about getting a few things done,” the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat said.
Democrats are demanding that the continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government include emergency funding to help Flint, Mich., clean up its contaminated water supply.
Any spending bill will need Democratic votes to clear the upper chamber, giving the party leverage as lawmakers inch closer to a shutdown that had once seemed improbable.
“We don’t need Republicans to again threaten a shutdown, and they’ve done it twice,” Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters. “We should be able to find a path forward to fund the government and help the people of Flint.”
Lawmakers must pass a funding measure by Saturday to prevent the federal government from shutting down.
The fight is playing out against the backdrop of a heated election campaign. McConnell had hoped for a quick, drama-free September session to get his members back to the campaign trail.
McConnell opened the door Tuesday to dropping emergency aid for Louisiana, Maryland and West Virginia to address Democratic criticism that the spending proposal includes help for flood victims but not for Flint. He could bring the CR up again for a vote as soon as Wednesday.
“We keep hearing their position is ‘no Flint, no floods.’ Well, that’s certainly an option worth discussing,” McConnell told reporters.
But the Kentucky Republican stressed he was not considering putting the Flint money into the CR.
Dropping the flood money, which was added after weeks of negotiations, from the bill would likely cost McConnell additional GOP support.
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted in favor of advancing the CR Tuesday, said that he was aware of the Democratic objections but warned against removing the flood funds.
“Why do you feel you have to punish people in Louisiana ... for Flint when there’s a pathway forward on Flint?” the GOP senator asked.
Democrats, eager to not give ground, gave no indication they would advance the bill if the flood money were dropped.
“Let’s see him do it. We’ll discuss it when that happens,” Reid said. “McConnell’s gotten himself into this mess and he can do whatever he does and we will take a look at it.”
In addition to the flood money, which Democrats say they support, Reid pointed to a fight over the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as another sticking point.
Democrats have expressed frustration that the bill wouldn’t reverse a policy rider included in last year’s omnibus appropriations package that blocks the SEC from requiring corporations to disclose political spending.
Republicans are quick to note that because the SEC language is current law, they would have to attach a rider to this year's otherwise “clean” funding measure to unwind it.
The fight over Flint aid has dragged on for months, and lawmakers are running out of time to get the funding passed this year. After next week, the House and Senate won’t be in session again until mid-November.
The Senate passed a water infrastructure bill, the Water Resources Development Act, earlier this month that included $220 million to address improvements in Flint and other communities with water problems.
But a House measure does not have Flint aid provisions, meaning the two chambers would have to resolve differences in a conference committee after the elections.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the majority whip, said Tuesday that the Flint money “can be and probably will be resolved” in that committee, but it would take more time.
“We just don’t have enough time to do that between now and Friday,” Cornyn said, arguing that any changes to the House’s water bill “may jeopardize their ability to pass it there.”
Democrats appeared skeptical Tuesday of commitments from GOP leadership to include the aid in a conference report.
“If Mr. [Pete] Sessions [R-Texas] thinks it’s an earmark now he’ll think it’s an earmark when we fight to go to conference, and he’ll fight to keep it out of the WRDA bill,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) told reporters.
Sessions shot down an attempt to add Flint funding to the House WRDA on Monday night, but said he expects it to be included in the conference report over the objections of the bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.).
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, told reporters Tuesday that he is confident Flint funding will pass before the end of the year.
“I’m convinced it’s going to happen and I will be part of the effort to get that done,” Upton said, adding that it will come either in the short-term or long-term government spending bill or the water resources bill.
Durbin, however, said Democrats wouldn’t settle for a verbal promise, adding if Republicans want “to make that promise to Flint ... [they can] make the same promise to Louisiana.”
A government shutdown would carry political risk for both sides, and particularly for incumbents in tough reelection races.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), one of a handful of GOP senators running for reelection in a purple state, said Tuesday that her colleagues should pass a CR instead of “dragging us to the brink of a government shutdown to score political points during an election year.”
Liz Johnson, a spokeswoman for Ayotte’s campaign, also sent a note to reporters Tuesday questioning whether Gov. Maggie Hassan, her Democratic opponent, will “support a government shutdown.”
Updated 9:56 p.m.
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/298186-dems-gain-upper-hand-on-budget
