The Senate returns to Washington this week and the House next week facing a full plate of issues needing to be resolved before their scheduled August recess. Congress must appropriate funds by the end of September to keep the Government running for the forthcoming fiscal year. Congress also needs to raise the ceiling on the national debt to keep the Government functioning and not running out of money.
President Biden’s legislative agenda begins with politics. He needs to successfully facilitate Congress’ ability to move ahead with a bi-partisan infrastructure bill. At the same time, the President hopes that a budget resolution will be negotiated in the House as well as through Senate to ensure that he accomplished much that remains on his domestic agenda. If this is successful, the President will have the outline of a reconciliation bill that will avoid a filibuster in the Senate. This bill will need to reflect his goal of uniting the progressive wing of his party—largely in the House—with a critical group of key conservative Democrats in the Senate. It will allow for spending bills as well as new revenue sources (taxes). Given the extremely polarizing times in which American politics is operating this is a tall order, but its success or failure may well define Biden’s presidency.
To avoid having to use spending from funds from contingency accounts, the federal government needs to have the debt ceiling suspended by the end of July, as was done in 2019, to permit the Treasury to allow spending to rise above the debt ceiling. Members of Congress prefer a suspension of the ceiling measure rather than an explicit limit as it does not publicize the enormity of the national debt. Either way before Congress goes on its August recess, it must act on the debt; and this is the easy one.
To be clear, President Biden is not attempting to pass a set of New Deal proposals nor even those of the Great Society or the New Frontier. In fact, his desires are very much within the framework of traditional—pre-President George W. Bush—executive-legislative relations. Biden wants Congress to join him in governing the nation; but his congressional opponents appear determined to defeat as many proposals as possible that the President presents.
There are numerous ironies in this action. One of the more absurd positions that the Republicans have adopted is on the matter of legislative spending earmarks. In 2011 Congress discontinued the practice for Members to insert, largely in appropriations bills, projects which will positively impact their state or congressional district. The allegation was that earmarks had been corrupting the appropriation process with too many “pet” projects. With the enthusiastic support of Republican lawmakers, the practice of earmarks was reinstated in this Congress. Having successfully returned to earmarking, all the Members of Congress—Republicans as well as Democrats-- actively sought to have specific provisions added to various bills so that they can proudly proclaim to their constituents that they have “brought home the bacon” to their people.
It now appears that Republicans are prepared to vote to defeat the very legislation which would have benefitted their constituents, and which contained the earmarks that they wanted inserted.
Many Republicans, who had voted against Biden’s COVID relief package, now trumpeted to their voters that they were responsible for all the benefits they received. If and when the current, pending appropriations bills pass with their earmarks still in the law, no doubt Republicans will once again claim credit for having supported the needs of their constituents!
The infrastructure bill not only concerns the bill but about governance. It is about helping citizens and using conflict resolution and compromise to govern not destroy. While there are clearly different ways to govern and different philosophies, it seems time for Congress to reconsider their actions and behavior in light of the words enshrined in the Preamble to the Constitution: that the Union was created “…to establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, and promote the general Welfare.”
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