Five goals for Republicans this summer
BY CRISTINA MARCOS
Republicans are running out of time to make major legislative achievements before they
break for their August recess � and President Trump�s 200th day in office later that month.
Congress will be in session for just 31 legislative days between now and the end of July, when
the five-week recess begins.
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have both put
more of an emphasis on the 200-day mark than Trump�s first 100 days.
The two want to show that Republican control of Washington is a status quo the voters should
support as they make their case for next year�s midterms.
There�s still time for Republicans to make some gains.
Here are five areas where the GOP will look for progress this summer
Adopting a budget
Republicans frequently blasted Democrats when they controlled Congress for going years without
adopting a budget.
Then they were unable to adopt a budget last year due to internal divisions about cutting
spending, though the inaction didn�t hurt the GOP legislative agenda.
This time, failing to adopt a budget would imperil GOP hopes for passing tax reform through
special budget rules that would prevent a Democratic filibuster.
Without a budget, in other words, the GOP may have to forget about a broad tax overhaul,
a longtime dream of Ryan�s.
Figuring out a budget for next year will also have consequences for keeping the government
funded after September.
Some Republicans want a bipartisan budget deal similar to those hammered out over the
past four years, that would establish top-line spending levels for appropriations bills and
raise the debt limit at the same time.
�We need that kind of agreement to provide budgetary stability,� said Rep. Charlie
Dent (R-Pa.), a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee.
Raising the debt limit
Top Trump administration officials told Congress this week that lawmakers may have to approve
a debt ceiling increase sooner than expected.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urged lawmakers to pass a �clean� debt ceiling hike with
no strings attached before leaving for the summer break.
�I think it�s absolutely important that this is passed before the August recess and
the sooner the better,� Mnuchin said before the House Ways and Means Committee.
Conservative groups want to tie spending restrictions to a debt bill.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus announced this week that they would demand any debt
hike be paired with spending cuts.
Striking a bipartisan deal to avoid a bruising debt limit fight would let GOP leaders demonstrate
they can govern responsibly, as they did with the four-month spending package earlier this
month.
But a wide-ranging budget and debt limit deal would be a disappointment for conservatives
hoping to get policy wins under unified GOP control of government.
�My concerns with the past years is that in a bipartisan fashion we�ve been kicking
the road and adding to the debt substantially.
That�s my concern with the past years.
Going forward, when you win the House and the Senate and the White House, and you�re
the small-government party, that�s my concern,� said Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), a Freedom Caucus
member.
Avoid a government shutdown
Congress is far behind where it normally is at this stage of the year in the annual appropriations
process.
The House will enter June without having approved a single appropriations bill, and appropriators
concede that there�s no time to pass each individual spending bill given other priorities.
�We can get the bills ready to get all 12 bills out of committee.
The real question is, do you have the time to do them on the floor?
Probably not.
So you're going to have 'minibuses' or an omnibus,� Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told reporters.
At a minimum, Republicans need to show that at a minimum they can keep the lights on while
controlling Congress and the White House.
Government funding won�t run out until the end of September, but the GOP will want to
start putting together a plan this summer.
In frustration over accepting this month�s spending compromise, President Trump called
for a �good shutdown� in September to fix the �mess� in Washington.
But most Republicans in Congress want to avoid such a situation, believing they and Trump
would get the blame for a shutdown.
Tax reform
Republicans can�t move a 2018 budget, which they need for tax reform, until they finish
work on a fiscal 2017 budget needed to repeal ObamaCare.
That means a tax reform vote in either chamber is still a long way off.
But Republicans are eager to get moving.
The border adjustment tax proposal pushed by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to tax imports
and exempt exports is withering in the face of opposition from conservative groups, retailers
and fellow Republicans who warn it would increase prices on consumer goods.
Yet Republicans need to find some other way to pay for their tax reform proposal if they
don�t want to add to the deficit.
�The border adjustable piece, I wish they would whip that to find out what the sense
is.
And if you don�t have the votes on it, then you got a trillion dollar hole that you gotta
fill.
And there�s ways to do that linked to the budget,� Brat said.
Healthcare
In the Senate, the GOP�s goal is to finish work on legislation repealing and replacing
ObamaCare by the August recess.
Whether they can do it is anyone�s guess.
There are severe differences among Republican senators over how to move forward, and McConnell
has been careful about setting expectations.
GOP senators distanced themselves from a Congressional Budget Office analysis this week that predicted
23 million people would lose insurance over the next decade under the House bill.
It also projected higher costs for older and sicker people.
Senate GOP staff will be drafting legislation during the Memorial Day recess, with a discussion
draft possibly circulating when senators return.
There�s an added reason for the Senate GOP to move quickly.
It is using the same budget reconciliation rules to avoid a Democratic filibuster on
healthcare that it intends to use on tax reform.
But it�s unclear how long the reconciliation vehicle for the healthcare bill will last.
The reconciliation measure is for fiscal year 2017, and Committee for a Responsible Federal
Budget senior advisor Ed Lorenzen noted that the Senate parliamentarian has not yet ruled
if reconciliation instructions expire at the end of the fiscal year in September.
If the parliamentarian were to rule the 2017 vehicle expires in September, Republicans
would have to either pass the healthcare measure quickly or try to move a bill the old-fashioned
way with Democratic votes.
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