How the Spending Deal's Three Principals Fared on the Edge of a Shutdown
Monday, April 11, 2011
How the Spending Deal's Three Principals Fared on the
Edge of a Shutdown
By: Joseph J. Schatz, Congressional Quarterly
As a government shutdown loomed the afternoon of April 8, Mike
Simpson, a powerful appropriations "cardinal," was asked about his
role in the ongoing talks to reach a spending deal and avert a
budgetary crisis.
Simpson, who chairs the House Interior-Environment spending
subcommittee, made it clear that he was not in the room. "This is
Harry Reid, John A. Boehner and President Obama," the Idaho
Republican said.
Indeed, more than with any other legislative debate so far this
year, those three men were at the center of the high-stakes bout of
public brinkmanship and behind-the-scenes maneuvering that
culminated in an eleventh hour deal to keep the government open and
cut $37.7 billion in fiscal 2011 discretionary spending.
The president, the House Speaker and the Senate majority leader
- men with very different histories and constituencies - each had a
great deal at stake, and much to lose.
As a deal came together late April 8, all three appeared to
emerge from the negotiations with varying levels of success, and
their political standing intact. More than anything, they may have
avoided a mutually assured destruction scenario: a government
shutdown that would have had unpredictable political consequences
for both parties and the White House.
Moreover, the negotiations served as a getting-to-know-you
exercise for relations between the new House GOP majority, Obama
and the Democrat-controlled Senate - and a test run for the even
bigger showdowns on the way, starting with a battle over raising
the federal debt limit in the coming weeks.
Boehner faced perhaps the most difficult challenge, confronted
with a restive group of Republican freshmen bent on making a
statement about cutting government spending, as well as a core of
more senior social conservatives trying to win their own priorities
in the budget deal. A more mainstream, pro-business Republican,
Boehner acted pragmatically - publicly warning that he would fight
until the end for the GOP Conference's priorities, but then
convincing members of the need to strike a deal and avoid a
shutdown.
"The Speaker of the House, John Boehner, whom I know and respect
and like, is surrounded by lean and hungry colleagues challenging
his value, his resolve and his leadership," Senate Majority Whip
Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., said before the deal was struck.
Boehner's Big Night
By any objective measure, Boehner did well. As one Senate
Republican leadership aide put it, Boehner got "about what you'd
expect" when it came to GOP-written policy riders limiting spending
on family planning and curbing environmental regulations. Those
provisions were vehemently opposed by Senate liberals, and
Democrats forced him to drop almost all of them and settle for
separate votes on the riders in the Senate next week.
But Boehner won large spending cuts - larger than anticipated by
many Republicans, the aide noted. The Speaker won a total spending
cut of more than $4 billion higher than both the $33 billion figure
trumpeted last week by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the
final deal, and the discretionary spending cap that House
Republicans gave Budget Chairman Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., to enforce
earlier this year.
In addition, while the details of the long-term plan remain
unclear, Boehner's office said late April 8 that it would deny
additional funding to the IRS, a priority for the GOP's anti-tax
conservative base; subject the new Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau, which was created over GOP objections, to mandatory audits;
and ban local and federal funding for abortion in the District of
Colombia, a nod to social conservatives.
Under the deal, the Senate will also take a series of
politically charged votes, including on GOP efforts to defund the
2010 health care overhaul.
"We have also forced the Senate's hand and will require them to
take an up-or-down vote on repealing ObamaCare and on de-funding
Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest provider of abortions,"
said Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga. "While this package isn't a good
year's work, it certainly is a good day's work."
Given the speed with which House Republicans agreed to Boehner's
deal, and pushed through a short-term stopgap early April 9 to keep
the government open through April 14 - by which time congressional
leaders hope to have the broader deal sent to the president's desk
- he appears to have succeeded in keeping the GOP caucus behind
him.
Reid Bends on Spending
Reid, whose team had grown frustrated in recent days with
Boehner's public insistence that a deal was not at hand, was forced
to accept more in spending cuts than he had wanted.
Just months ago, Senate Democrats were calling for a freeze in
discretionary spending - a position that quickly became politically
untenable amid mounting public concern about the federal deficit
and long-term debt. As the contours of the broad spending deal come
into focus in coming days, many Democrats are likely to be
disappointed with the cuts.
On the other hand, several vulnerable Democrats up for
re-election in 2012 may not be disappointed. This week's vote will
demonstrate how moderates looking to 2012 will approach the
spending issue.
Reid also seized the opportunity to show that he'd go to the mat
for some of the party's core priorities, such as environmental
protection, family planning and abortion rights. On Friday, as
Republicans remained relatively quiet, Reid charged that the GOP
was willing to shut down the government over a provision to deny
federal funding to Planned Parenthood. He led an aggressive
campaign over the course of the day to cast the GOP as an opponent
of women's health, and succeeded in getting Boehner to drop the
rider and accept a deal.
In that respect, Reid made sure that both parties were able to
claim a measure of victory. "I'm pleased that we were able to beat
back the tea party's extreme social agenda and keep our government
open, our troops paid, and our economy moving forward," said Sen.
Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J.
Still, there will no doubt be some drama ahead as the two
leaders - particularly Boehner - corral the votes to pass the
longer-term deal this week, after lawmakers have had a chance to
read it.
Next Test for Obama
Meanwhile, President Obama, who sought to remain above the fray
throughout the negotiations, was able to present the American
public with a deal while keeping his hands relatively clean of the
legislative details. Opinion polls had shown that the public might
distribute blame for a shutdown evenly among the White House,
congressional Republicans and congressional Democrats, a dynamic
that all sides were keenly aware of.
That posture is likely to be hard to maintain in the coming
clash over raising the federal debt limit. Conservatives have
already signaled that they view the debt limit - which Congress has
never refused to raise - as a bigger battle and will demand further
concessions.
And while Obama may have stood on the public and political high
ground, his spending priorities took a serious hit, though he
avoided the overall national economic damage that may have come
with a shutdown. "Like any worthwhile compromise, both sides had to
make tough decisions and give ground on issues that were important
to them. And I certainly did that," Obama said last night, with the
Washington Monument - which was saved from being shuttered during
high tourist season - in the background. "At the same time, we also
made sure that at the end of the day, this was a debate about
spending cuts, not social issues like women's health and the
protection of our air and water."