Senate Reaches Deal to Avert Government Shutdown
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Senate Reaches Deal to Avert Government
Shutdown
By: Jennifer Steinhauer, New York
Times
The Senate reached a bipartisan spending agreement on Monday to
avert a government shutdown, sidestepping a bitter impasse over
disaster financing after federal authorities said they could most
likely squeak through the rest of this week with the $114 million
they had on hand.
After blocking one Democratic proposal, the Senate voted, 79 to
12, to approve a straightforward seven-week extension of financing
for government agencies that were due to run out of money on
Friday, simultaneously replenishing accounts at the Federal
Emergency Management Agency that this summer's string of natural
disasters had nearly exhausted.
"It shows us the way out," said Senator Harry Reid, the
Democratic majority leader, who said the plan should be
satisfactory to both Democrats and Republicans. "It means we no
longer have to fight."
The discovery by FEMA that it had money for the week was the key
to the breakthrough since it eliminated one of the main points of
contention: whether to offset a quick infusion of funds to the
agency with cuts elsewhere as House Republicans had insisted.
Democrats in both the House and Senate said that approach would set
a bad precedent.
While the Senate actions appeared to head off a government
shutdown for a second time this year, the embarrassing fight over
disaster aid pulled into sharp relief both the enduring, sinewy
power of the Tea Party - and its deep impact on fiscal policy - and
Democrats' revived pugnacity as they press President Obama's jobs
plan through next year's elections.
To ease potential objections, the Senate also passed, by voice
vote, a measure to extend government financing for four days to
allow time to work out the longer-term agreement when the House
returns next week.
The House, whose members are back in their districts for a
week's recess, would have to sign off on any bill to keep the
government running after the end of the fiscal year, since the
Senate rejected the House Republican plan last week.
Senate officials hoped they could win quick consent on the
four-day solution in a pro forma session of the House this week,
calculating that House leaders would not want to be blamed for
causing a shutdown by failing to consider a plan that received
strong Senate support.
Democrats said they expected the House Republicans to concur
with the Senate's overall solution. "It is hard to see how House
Republicans would reject this proposal," said Senator Charles E.
Schumer of New York.
Even as they approved the financing arrangement, members of both
parties said the that fight had gone too far.
"In my view, this entire fire drill was completely unnecessary,"
said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.
"But I'm glad a resolution now appears to be at hand."
As the Senate headed for its showdown, FEMA and administration
budget officials informed lawmakers that the agency would likely be
able to make disaster relief payments through the rest of the week.
Mr. Reid's staff then reached out to House Speaker John A. Boehner
to discuss a short-term solution.
Democrats sought to frame the latest problem as one manufactured
by House Republicans, who last week passed their own bill to
provide $3.65 billion in disaster relief to FEMA partly paid for
with cuts to loan programs to support energy-efficient cars and
alternative energy.
Senate Democrats, who were displeased with the level of disaster
aid as well as the cuts, rejected that bill on Friday. (Some
Republicans also voted against the bill, on the ground that it did
not make sufficient cuts to current-year spending.)
Senator Mary Landrieu, Democrat from Louisiana and a
central proponent of advancing the aid without corresponding cuts,
repeatedly called the House position the "Cantor doctrine." After a
moderate earthquake rattled his state, Representative Eric Cantor
of Virginia, the House majority leader, almost immediately said any
additional disaster aid spent this year would need to be offset
with spending cuts.
Immediate emergency aid for natural disaster victims has
historically been distributed without offsets in the budget.
Congressional officials said the question of how to handle disaster
aid was likely to be revisited this fall if the administration
sought a special spending bill to cover disaster costs.
Mr. Reid batted away the idea that Republicans would seek
offsets for disaster financing for the next fiscal year. "If
they want to go through this again, they are looking for more
losses," he said. "Americans are just so upset."
Twelve Republicans opposed the seven-week bill on Monday.
Senator Roy Blunt, Republican from Missouri, said he voted against
both bills Monday because "they would delay the process by punting
back to the House" and because the second bill would provide less
disaster relief for his state.
House Republican leaders, who were on the phone with members of
their caucus on Monday night, could not give assurances that the
Senate bill would find immediate acquiescence in their chamber. But
they did seek to portray the bill as their victory.
"Washington Democrats attempted to grandstand and delay needed
disaster relief to score political points," said Michael Steel, a
spokesman for Mr. Boehner. "Republicans stood firm, and Senate
Democrats have conceded that the spending level in the House-passed
bill was the most responsible solution."
Up next, Mr. Reid said: a trade bill.