Congress left town Thursday inching closer to a deal meant to avoid a government shutdown. But Democrats said they still need assurances before they can get on board with any funding deal — and they’re not convinced Republicans are trying to court their votes in earnest.
“Right now, to me, there’s no sign that the Republicans are taking seriously the need to pass a bipartisan bill,” Sen. Chris Murphy, an Appropriations Committee member, told NOTUS on Thursday. “There has not been any meeting of the leaders. The White House hasn’t reached out to Democratic leadership, so there’s been no serious effort … among the Republican leaders who run the House and the Senate to try to convene a bipartisan process, and that’s obviously very worrying.”
With about two legislative weeks left before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, appropriations leadership in the House and Senate have yet to convene a full “four corners” meeting with Republican and Democratic chiefs of both committees.
House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole and his Democratic counterpart, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, have not scheduled a meeting either, Cole said, although the two have a history of dealmaking.
That’s not to say no one is talking. Cole is in close communication with Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins. Collins and Sen. Patty Murray, the Senate committee’s top Democrat, are talking.
When asked by NOTUS on Thursday if Republicans were working with Democrats yet, Murray said, “We are.”
Senate Republicans will need at least seven Democratic votes on any funding measure, whether it’s a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government open while negotiations continue or a longer-term negotiated appropriations package. In the House, it can pass along party lines — as an appropriations bill did by one vote Thursday morning.
Collins and Cole are aiming to get a short-term continuing resolution, or CR, possibly “into November” to avert a shutdown, along with the House approving a package of three full-year funding bills the Senate has already passed.
Democrats NOTUS spoke to on Thursday largely said they’re willing to vote for that arrangement, deferring to Murray’s leadership.
In the longer term, Cole said he wants to take advantage of the Republican trifecta and pass a funding bill negotiated by both sides.
“You only do a CR when you can’t do something better, and I think we can get something better this year,” Cole told reporters.
Cole said he “absolutely” believes the four corners — himself, DeLauro, Collins and Murray — want to come to a deal. But finding that middle ground won’t be simple.
“I don’t think the parameters are as far apart as some people do, and we’ll find a middle ground,” Cole added. “But it also needs to be a middle ground that’s acceptable to the president, something my Democratic colleagues forget — by the way, you are in the minority in both chambers, even though we need your votes.”
Democrats maintain that they’re wary of any Republican attempts to slash funding or expand presidential authority in a CR. A “partisan” CR, one that doesn’t make serious concessions to Democrats, would likely not go over well.
“We want to make sure that there’s a budget agreement that is not a one-way street, that meets the country’s priorities,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen told reporters. “And where we can be assured that when we pass it, it will be actually implemented, rather than the president undermining it after it’s signed.”
Democrats want some kind of assurance that Republicans won’t support President Donald Trump’s attempts to unilaterally cut appropriated federal funds. Some have also said the government funding package should reverse some measures of the reconciliation bill.
Republicans “are in charge, but if they want Democratic votes, then they have to roll back some of those health care cuts,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren told reporters.
Sen. Tim Kaine also said he wants to see the health care cuts addressed in any long-term funding deal, although he does not expect such a fix on a short-term CR.
Kaine had a list of things that would trouble him in the funding talks: “A long-term CR reflecting no consultation with Democrats, something that doesn’t fix this health care damage that Virginians are already seeing in terms of predictive premium increases, something that gives the president the continued freehand for him to just choose to rewrite the budget whenever he wants.”
Lawmakers from both parties expressed confidence they’re capable of coming to a deal. Cole, who has built a reputation for reaching across the aisle to negotiate, mentioned an eight-year-long period in which he, Murray and DeLauro “almost always” came to deals they could all vote for in an appropriations subcommittee.
“They’re excellent negotiators, and they’re people of good faith,” Cole said of his Democratic counterparts.
DeLauro, who Cole said he considers a “friend,” said she and Cole know how to negotiate with one another. But Republicans’ recent rescissions bill doesn’t give her confidence that her party will have a true say in the next funding attempt.
“The House side has been unilaterally partisan in their efforts,” DeLauro said Wednesday. “Throwing in the mix a rescission package, what does that say about wanting to deal in good faith, in a bipartisan way, to help us get bills done?”