House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) departed Washington for the summer recess leaving a pair of vexing problems to ripen on his desk. When the speaker returns next week, he’ll find both issues right where he left them but six weeks closer to an expiration date.
McCarthy will have only a dozen legislative days to avoid a government shutdown when the House resumes business on Sept. 12.
At the same time, the speaker will be making a decision on whether to bring the question of an impeachment inquiry for President Joe Biden to a vote on the House floor.
Both matters are likely to involve tense negotiations—if not an outright battle—with the more conservative members of the speaker’s own party amid amped-up pressure from Democrats to provide even more funding for Ukraine, disaster relief, and to combat the fentanyl crisis. And all this will be undertaken amid uncertainty over the health of a key aide, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), and a key ally, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
The Budget Fight
The federal fiscal year ends Sept. 30, so unless Congress reaches an agreement on spending by that date, all but vital government functions will cease on Oct. 1.
Unheard of until the 1980s, shutdowns have occurred three times since 2013 as the parties failed to reach a compromise on spending decisions.
Many lawmakers hoped the budgeting process would go more smoothly this year, avoiding a repeat of last year’s continuing resolution to carry spending through the fall, followed by the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill passed by Democrats in December.
An outline for 2024 federal spending was hammered out earlier this summer by Mr. McCarthy and President Biden, culminating in the bipartisan passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The bill was signed into law on June 3, ending a four-month standoff over federal spending.
Democrats agreed to slight reductions in nondefense discretionary spending and modest increases in defense spending in 2024, with discretionary spending growth capped at 1 percent for 2025. In exchange, Republicans agreed to suspend the debt ceiling through Jan. 1, 2025.
The deal didn’t sit well with some of the most conservative House Republicans, who believed McCarthy had too easily surrendered their demands for greater fiscal restraint.
Republicans in the House have attempted to reinstate their original demand through the 2024 appropriations bills, limiting spending to the 2022 level.
Meanwhile, the Senate has been working through appropriations bills in keeping with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, setting the stage for another showdown over spending.
Mr. McConnell referred to the situation as “a pretty big mess” in remarks to reporters in Covington, Ky., on Aug. 30.
“The speaker and the president reached an agreement which I supported in connection with raising the debt ceiling to set spending levels for next year,” he said.
“The House then turned around and passed spending levels that were below that level,” he said. “Without stating an opinion about that, that’s not going to be replicated in the Senate.”
Possible Continuing Resolution
Mr. McCarthy’s strategy for dealing with the immediate problem appears to be passing a short-term continuing resolution to fund the government at current levels while spending negotiations continue.
“I do expect a short-term CR will be needed to finish all the work that we set out to do,” Mr. McCarthy reportedly told House Republicans during a closed conference call on Aug. 14.
“But I don’t want the Senate to jam us against the holidays.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) reportedly told reporters on a call: “I thought it was a good thing that he recognized that we need a CR in September. I’m supportive of that.
“A CR until early December provides time for consideration of these bipartisan bills. We urge our House colleagues to emulate the Senate. The only way we’re going to avoid a government shutdown is by bipartisan support in both houses.”
However, some House Republicans have signaled their unwillingness to support a continuing resolution, preferring a government shutdown as a way of keeping up the pressure for spending cuts.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) signaled his willingness to stage that fight in a series of messages on X on Sept. 4.
“Republicans should not fund (with debt – see chart) the things they campaign against – and then just shrug… border… DOJ weaponization… DOD wokeness… IRS abuse… COVID tyranny,” Mr. Roy wrote, accompanied by a chart showing the growth in deficit spending during the pandemic.
“Extending a CR of the disastrous Omni is non-starter,” he added, referring to the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill passed nine months ago.
Mr. Roy was one of a handful of Republicans who opposed Mr. McCarthy’s election as speaker and have consistently fought for more substantive reductions in federal spending, even against opposition from their own party.
While the group, mostly comprising members of the House Freedom Caucus, does not have enough clout to pass legislation, they can block Republican initiatives in the narrowly divided House.
“We shouldn’t fear a government shutdown,” Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) said on June 15, his office confirmed to The Epoch Times. “If we shut it down in order to try to bring fiscal stability and fiscal solvency, that will save the country from an economic and fiscal standpoint for our kids and grandkids.”
“I’m not afraid of shutdowns. American life doesn’t halt because government offices are closed,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said, according to Punchbowl News. “We have to be serious about spending.”
Pressure From Democrats
Meanwhile, the Biden administration asked Congress on Aug. 10 to approve an additional $40 billion in supplemental spending.
The request includes $13.1 billion in military aid for Ukraine and $8.5 billion in economic and humanitarian relief. Aid for Ukraine has increasingly been questioned by some in Congress as that country’s war to repel the Russian invasion nears the end of a second summer with no U.S. exit strategy in place.
The president also requested $12 billion to replenish the federal Disaster Relief Fund, $3.3 billion to counter China’s influence in developing countries, $4 million for border security, services for illegal immigrants, and to combat the flow of fentanyl into the country.
The White House dialed up the pressure on Congress in a Sept. 5 memo from deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, which cast the budget talks in the gravest possible terms.
“Now, House Republicans have a stark choice to make: will they honor their word, meet their responsibility to avoid a shutdown, and act on life and death priorities like fighting the fentanyl crisis?” Mr. Bates wrote.
Mr. Roy had previously said he would not vote to approve the request, and Mr. McCarthy said it would not be rubber stamped in the House. But the cocktail of border security, fentanyl, and disaster relief may be difficult for some House members to turn down, providing one more hurdle for Mr. McCarthy in gaining agreement on the range of issues facing Congress.
Decisions on Impeachment Inquiry
Some House Republicans have attempted to impeach President Biden several times, including prior to his inauguration in January 2021. Seven lawmakers filed articles of impeachment in the 117th Congress, though no action was taken on them.
In the current Congress, the move to impeach President Biden has gained some momentum as both the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Department of Justice have investigated the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden, for evidence of wrongdoing and possible links to the president himself.
Several members have filed articles of impeachment against the president since Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was the first to do so on May 18.
Prior to the summer break, Mr. McCarthy indicated the possibility of opening a formal impeachment inquiry against the president. The speaker made it clear on Sept. 1 that such an inquiry would move forward only after a vote on the House floor.
“To open an impeachment inquiry is a serious matter, and House Republicans would not take it lightly or use it for political purposes,” Mr. McCarthy told Breitbart News.
“The American people deserve to be heard on this matter through their elected representatives,” he said. “That’s why, if we move forward with an impeachment inquiry, it would occur through a vote on the floor of the People’s House and not through a declaration by one person.”
Mr. McCarthy earlier said an impeachment inquiry would be a “natural step forward” in the House’s investigation of the Biden family.
House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) on Aug. 3 released the transcript of an interview with Devon Archer, an associate of Mr. Hunter Biden. Mr. Archer asserted that President Biden had met with Mr. Hunter Biden’s business associates during his vice presidency. President Biden has consistently denied any involvement in or knowledge of his son’s business dealings.
The bar for opening an impeachment inquiry by the full House is high, requiring 218 votes. Republicans hold just 222 seats. At least one Republican, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), is not convinced of the need for an impeachment inquiry.
“We should have some clear evidence of a high crime or misdemeanor, not just assuming there may be one,” Mr. Bacon told The Hill in August. “I think we need to have more concrete evidence to go down that path.”
If more information were found, a second vote would be required to bring an impeachment. Then a two-thirds majority vote in the Democrat-controlled Senate would be required to remove President Biden from office.
Though opening an impeachment inquiry, let alone removing the president from office, is unlikely, some of the more conservative House Republicans might be willing to force a vote on the issue as a matter of principle.
“It’s a must,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) told The Hill. “I mean, if not now, when?”
Leadership Limping
As Mr. McCarthy heads a contentious fall agenda, he does so with two Republican leaders facing health problems.
Mr. Scalise announced on Aug. 29 that he had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. The disease is treatable but not curable according to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
“I expect to work through this period and intend to return to Washington, continuing my work as Majority Leader and serving the people of Louisiana’s First Congressional District,” Mr. Scalise said. However, it is not clear to what degree the disease and its treatment may hamper his effectiveness as the No. 2 House Republican.
Meanwhile, Mr. McConnell apparently froze for the second time in five weeks while speaking to reporters on Aug. 30. The 81-year-old senator appeared unable to speak for about 30 seconds after a reporter asked if he would seek reelection in 2024. Mr. McConnell experienced a similar episode in Washington in July.
The 81-year-old senator, a polio survivor, suffered a concussion resulting from a fall on April 17, causing him to miss several weeks of work.
Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the Capitol attending physician, examined Mr. McConnell after the second episode of freezing and issued a statement saying that temporary lightheadedness was consistent with recovery from a concussion.
The senator’s office released a letter from Dr. Monahan on Sept. 5 saying that after reviewing a “brain MRI imaging, EEG study and consultations with several neurologists for a comprehensive neurology assessment,” he had found “no evidence that you have a seizure disorder or that you experienced a stroke, [transient ischemic attack] or movement disorder such as Parkinson’s disease.”
President Biden said that Mr. McConnell seemed fine in a phone conversation on Aug. 31.
“I spoke to him today. He was his old self on the telephone,” the president told reporters at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters.
Although Mr. McConnell, the longest serving GOP leader in Senate history, has been medically cleared to resume his normal schedule, some have called for him to step aside as minority leader.
During the standoff with President Biden over the debt limit earlier this year, Mr. McConnell, a veteran of such battles, deferred entirely to Mr. McCarthy’s leadership in the matter.
The Senate returned to work on Sept. 5. But it appears that the heavy lifting in resolving the nation’s budget dilemma will have to wait a week until Mr. McCarthy calls the House to order for the fall session.
Savannah Hulsey Pointer, Tom Ozimek, Caden Pearson, and Jackson Richman contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times
