The Trump administration wants a stopgap funding plan through Jan. 31. Appropriators are prepared to go their own way.
It’s about more than a date — it’s the latest proxy battle in the larger clash over whether to pursue a deal to extend expiring health insurance subsidies and attach it to a plan funding the government through September 2026.
Appropriators want a much shorter continuing resolution to allow for full-year funding negotiations and a possible health care deal — Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is pushing for the Friday before Thanksgiving. The White House is allied with GOP hard-liners in wanting a punt past the subsidies’ Dec. 31 expiration date.
Yet to weigh in directly on the fate of the expiring tax credits is President Donald Trump, who will ultimately need to endorse any agreement.
A funding-plus-subsidies deal could be the only way to avoid a shutdown at some point this year. That’s not to say it will be easy.
“It will probably kill Republican votes in order to add Democrats,” Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) said about the possible tradeoff.
Democrats are dealing with their own split over when to take a stand. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he thought there could be a “straightforward” stopgap funding plan now and a “comprehensive” deal involving the insurance subsidies later. But others, like Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), said now is the time to fight, ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline.
“I think we need to have a high price, and so that price could be saving the ACA,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, however, is insisting on a “clean” CR this month — and he confirmed to POLITICO Tuesday that means no subsidies extension — while also floating the possibility of a deal later this year. So if Democrats decide to put up a fight now, that would be an easy recipe for a government shutdown.
What else we’re watching:
— NDAA vote: House GOP leaders will need to keep their ranks unified in a narrow, partisan vote Wednesday to approve the annual defense authorization bill. Rules Republicans, in a party-line vote Tuesday, cleared the way for debate on 298 amendments to the NDAA but granted Democrats zero individual amendments for debate. Armed Services ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) has declared he will vote against final passage if the partisan GOP amendments are adopted.
— Oversight marks up DC bills: House Oversight will mark up more than a dozen bills Wednesday designed to strengthen law enforcement in the District of Columbia and chip away at the capital city’s autonomy to set its own rules and regulations. It comes the same day Trump’s order seizing control of the local police force expires.
— Shaheen briefs on ACA credits: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) will brief congressional staff Wednesday at an event hosted by the Small Business Majority and the National Women’s Law Center on the looming expiration of enhanced ACA tax credits. Shaheen authored the original legislation expanding the credits, and her pitch comes as vulnerable House Republicans continue to push their leadership for a one-year extension.
Jordain Carney, Nicholas Wu and Connor O’Brien contributed to this report.
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