Scoop: White House, Dems plot 3-month funding plan

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Axios

Updated 11 hours ago


The White House is plotting with Democratic leaders in Congress to try to force Republicans to accept a short-term spending bill that would fund the government through mid-December, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The Biden administration's embrace of a three-month stopgap measure is an attempt to establish the terms of the spending debate with House Republicans, who are pushing for a six-month bill.

If Congress and the White House can't agree on how to fund the government by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, the federal government will shut down in early October, weeks before Election Day.

The December timeline Democrats want would require Congress to return to the Capitol for a lame-duck session when lawmakers — and the next president — would know who was going to control what branches of government starting in January.

The new Congress begins Jan. 3, and the new president is to be sworn in on Jan. 20.

Driving the news: White House officials spoke separately with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) late last week to agree on a strategy, according to people familiar with the matter.

On the call from the White House's team were Jeff Zients, chief of staff; Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president; Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget and Management, and Shuwanza Goff, director of legislative affairs.

Biden's team wants to be on the same page with congressional Democrats heading into the year-end funding battle to force House Republicans to accept a plan to fund the government largely at fiscal 2024 levels.

Speaker Mike Johnson told his members last week to prepare to vote for his six-month plan early this week.
Johnson wants a spending plan that would include a measure requiring voters to offer proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.

Zoom in: This week, the White House will begin to highlight the risks of a six-month continuing resolution on military readiness, veterans care, disaster relief and other national security priorities, like competing with China.

Democrats also want to avoid handing a potential President Harris a tight deadline to fund the government in the first few months of her term.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2024/09/08/spending-bill-congress-white-house

[Bayard]

1. Its ridiculous to have to go through this every few months

Holds the whole country hostage.

[slightlv]

3. I can tell you, we at the DoD and

other government offices have come to dread certain months of the year. No matter how we try to plan for it... expecting it will happen... there never seems to be enough money to set aside to try to make it through a shutdown. It's total anxiety, which affects everything from tempers to production to morale. But those costs are never filtered in to anyone's expectations.

[slightlv]

2. I detest the way this story is basically formatted

via different media. Axios says "The White House is plotting with Democratic leaders in Congress to try to force Republicans to accept..." Meanwhile, the Hill talks about Johnson digging in his heels on this, having no plan B to fall back on, and as many as 6 repubs are saying "no way" they'll vote FOR this bill. Then they go on to mention several others who have either said NO or are on the fence. Looks to me like the "plotting" is going on in the Republican house, not among the various Democratic conferences. Everything seems geared to make it look like Dems are cheating and/or untrustworthy... ala trump... vs the Republicans working hard, which is an oxymoron in and of itself!

And everyone seems to be up in arms and screaming doom and gloom because a poll showed Harris a point behind t. Well, whoopdedoo! Ever hear of a margin of error? How about a skewed poll? How about a biased media report? Geesh! All they can print, if they'd actually honestly admit is: Democrat=bad, Republican=good. That's their story, and they're sticking to it, in way too many words.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. "Everything seems geared to make it look like Dems are cheating and/or untrustworthy...vs the Republicans working hard"

Except that when you wait a bit, you suddenly find that the media is forced to concede that things aren't so honky dory in GOP-land because Democrats are united, and the GOP is fractured - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143304283

[slightlv]

6. LOL! It's almost as though the MSM is schizophrenic! n/t

[winstars]

4. Plotting???? WTF??? How about planning... Fucking MSM...