SEPTEMBER’S SWIFT STOPGAP PIVOT For the first time in more than a year, lawmakers are expected to punt on a shutdown deadline with relatively little drama. Let’s check in on where that process stands, since it’s hard to assume anything with the current Congress. While conservatives are typically loath to support a temporary funding punt, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) predicted few problems when it comes to passing a short-term spending patch this time around. “I don't think there'll be a problem,” he said. “Nobody wants a government shutdown during an election cycle.” Add-ons: The right flank might have a problem with a push to add on some emergency cash, and Cole said he has already been talking to the Senate and the White House about including that supplemental spending in a stopgap. It would likely include money for natural disasters across the country and the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Given wide bipartisan backing, that still shouldn’t be a major problem. President Joe Biden has requested more than $3 billion for an emergency relief program to cover the Baltimore bridge and other needs, in addition to $700 million for the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program for Maui wildfires and severe storms across the U.S., including tornado and hurricane recovery efforts. Still working on passage: House Republican leaders haven’t completed their mission to pass partisan versions of the 12 funding bills before bipartisan negotiations begin after Election Day. Despite the House being gone the next 42 days and seven divisive spending bills left to pass, Cole said he isn’t necessarily abandoning the idea of voting on more fiscal 2025 funding measures. He noted that GOP leaders last week passed the Interior-Environment bill — a small victory after three other appropriations measures were pulled from consideration given intra-party opposition. “We haven't given up quite on getting more approps bills passed,” Cole said. “So we'll continue to work that process.” The election factor: Still, convincing swing-district Republicans to vote in support of anti-abortion policies and funding cuts to programs like Amtrak is unlikely to get easier as Election Day approaches. “I get it. I think that's going to be the challenge between now and September 30th,” Alabama Rep. Robert Aderholt, the House’s most senior GOP appropriator, said of those political concerns. Plus, passing a so-called continuing resolution in September is going to suck up a lot of legislative oxygen, leaving little room or appetite for politically volatile GOP funding bills with shaky support. Senior GOP appropriators are still stressing to their skeptical colleagues that the bills aren’t end game, and passing them on the floor bolsters House Republicans’ leverage in whatever bipartisan, bicameral government funding talks take shape after the Nov. 5 election. “That’s the hardest message to convey to people who have a predisposition to vote against approps bills,” said Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.). One major wrinkle to watch: The Department of Veterans Affairs told Congress earlier this month that it’s looking at a $15 billion budget shortfall through next year, risking some benefits and health care payments as soon as Oct. 1 if Congress fails to act. Republicans in both chambers are now demanding answers about the seemingly last-minute nature of the red ink, which has thrown House and Senate appropriators for a loop. Congress may be forced to grapple with at least part of the shortfall when lawmakers return in September before passing a stopgap, so the fix doesn’t come too late. “The budget shortfall seems to be a troubling mix of anticipated costs that were not budgeted for and other costs that lack sufficient explanation or are speculative,” House Veterans’ Affairs Chair Mike Bost (R-Ill.) wrote in a recent letter to the administration. — Caitlin Emma and Jennifer Scholtes, with an assist from Connor O’Brien
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