Some are seeing last night’s temporary budget deal as a victory in terms of avoiding another episode of Shutdown Theater. Others are seeing a replay of the drama that sent Keven McCarthy to the bullpen. No matter where you stand on the matter, a bill to fund the government into the early part of next year made it out of the House with broad bipartisan support, garnering 336 votes. The Senate is expected to take up the bill immediately and Joe Biden indicated that he would sign it, so some breathing room has been achieved. But more than 90 Republicans voted against it, so rumors of another GOP insurrection are swirling in the swamp this morning. So will the Republican majority establish itself as being capable of actual governance, or would they prefer to head into 2024 looking like the Party That Can’t Shoot Straight? (Associated Press)
The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to prevent a government shutdown after new Republican Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to reach across the aisle to Democrats when hard-right conservatives revolted against his plan.
Johnson’s proposal to temporarily fund the government into the new year passed on a bipartisan 336-95 tally, but 93 Republicans voted against it. It was the first time the new speaker had to force vital legislation through the House, and he showed a willingness to leave his right-flank Republicans behind — the same political move that cost the last House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, his job just weeks ago.
For now, Johnson of Louisiana appeared on track for a better outcome. His approach, which the Senate is expected to approve by week’s end, effectively pushes a final showdown over government funding to the new year.
From a strictly conservative perspective, this isn’t the bill that I or most of you would have liked to see. But Speaker Johnson made several good points while defending it. With a three-seat majority in one chamber, there’s only so much you can realistically do. He assured his caucus yesterday that they were not surrendering, adding, “But you have to choose fights you can win.”
The Democrats have already demonstrated that they were ready to shut the government down if the House passed a bill with spending cuts to offset new spending. They weren’t bluffing. They really had nothing to lose because almost all of the legacy media would have blamed the GOP anyway and the public would have once again seen the Republicans as being essentially dysfunctional at best. Nothing is going to be any different in January, with many members on both sides in vulnerable seats being frightened to put their names on a bill that may be viewed as “weak” by their base.
One of the many, high-priority goals of conservatives is to rein in spending and pump the brakes on the rising deficit. But that’s clearly not possible with Chuck Schumer in the Senate Majority Leader’s office and Joe Biden’s veto pen dangling over the Oval Office. The way to achieve spending cuts is to take back the majority in both chambers and put a conservative in the White House. Then you can push the agenda forward and let the public judge you by the results you deliver. That’s clearly some tough medicine for the Freedom Caucus to swallow, but the alternative would be to remove Mike Johnson and restart the entire clown show we saw this year. Does anyone really think that’s going to swing more seats in 2024?
One interesting sidenote in last night’s compromise is the fact that the continuing resolution still includes no new aid for Ukraine or (unfortunately) Israel. There is also nothing for enhanced border security. That’s one area where, in saner times there should have been room for a limited bit of horsetrading. The aid to Israel should be a no-brainer, with solid majorities in virtually every congressional district supporting it. Some additional aid to Ukraine could be added if it includes a provision to audit all of the funds they have received thus far. And the Ukraine aid could be traded for actual border security enhancements instead of the garbage proposal that Biden has been pushing. But we may be in a period where such common sense agreements are only seen as a “surrender” on both sides and remain impossible. No matter how you slice this pie, Congress continues to appear largely dysfunctional and there doesn’t seem to be a lot we can do about it. But if nothing else, work will continue in Washington this year, including the House committees’ ongoing investigations, which remain critical.
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