WASHINGTON – Timely passage of stopgap funding to avert a partial government shutdown starting this weekend was up in the air Friday afternoon as some senators were trying to block lawmakers' salaries in a budgetary impasse and others sought to send checks out to most U.S. households.
One holdup was averted when Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., relented on his push to strip troop withdrawal language from the unrelated defense authorization bill. But Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters that GOP senators pushing for votes on their "no budget, no pay" plan, as well as an effort by Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to get $1,200 direct payments attached to a moving legislative vehicle, were holding up the process.
Complicating matters further, if the salary withholding measure gets a vote, Thune said Paul would insist on a vote on his own bill to prevent government shutdowns with an automatic continuing resolution at lower funding levels. "There is either going to be a bunch of stuff, or nothing," Thune said.
Sens. Mike Braun of Indiana and Rick Scott of Florida are the primary GOP backers of the "no budget, no pay" measure, which simply says that lawmakers can't receive their salaries until Congress adopts a budget resolution and passes all the appropriations bills by the start of the new fiscal year Oct. 1. They couldn't immediately be reached for comment on whether they'd hold up the stopgap bill unless they got a vote.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee added a version of their bill as an amendment to a broader "automatic CR" bill authored by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., during a 2019 markup. But among those expressing reservations on the "no budget, no pay" bill were Paul and Republican Mitt Romney of Utah.
Romney at the time said the measure probably wouldn't hurt wealthier legislators like himself and Scott, but that not all lawmakers were so well-situated. Added Paul: "I think in the end you’ll get a two-tiered system where the wealthy members will vote however they want to and you’ll put extra pressure on those who are middle class."
The Homeland Security panel's chairman, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, initially opposed adding "no budget, no pay" because he didn't want to threaten the popular automatic continuing resolution bill's chances. Proponents of that underlying measure had discussed seeking a vote to add it to the stopgap, but they seem to have backed off.
"From my standpoint I didn't want to ... threaten shutting down the government to get a vote on my prevent government shutdown act," Johnson said Friday. "That doesn't sound like a real logical thing to do so.”
Paul said earlier Friday he would not block passage of the one-week stopgap bill over his desire to remove language from the defense authorization conference report that would restrict the president’s ability to withdraw or reduce troops overseas.
"Our main point in filibustering the defense authorization bill was to point out that the president should have the prerogative to end a war, not just to start wars,” Paul told reporters Friday. “I think it's a pretty important principle to discuss, so we did hold things up for a day on that, but we're not going to on the CR,” he said, referring to the continuing resolution needed to avoid a partial shutdown.
The stopgap measure, which would extend current funding for all federal agencies through Dec. 18, also faced a procedural threat from Sanders. He and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., offered an amendment Thursday seeking a new round of tax rebate checks as part of a coronavirus relief measure.
Hawley made clear Friday he would not hold up the continuing resolution over the matter. "I don't have a hold on the CR,” he told reporters, referring to the continuing resolution. “But I want to have a vote on direct relief. I'd like to see it part of the COVID package. If it's not that, I want to vote on the standalone bill."
But Sanders remained coy about his intentions Friday morning.
“All that I want to say right now is that the American people are hurting,” Sanders told reporters. “They need help. They need a $1,200 check and $500 for the kids. And Congress cannot go home without providing that.”
If there's no agreement, a vote on passage of the stopgap could be delayed until early next week under Senate rules. The first procedural vote — limiting debate on a motion to proceed to the measure — could occur no earlier than Saturday.
But Senate leaders were working to avoid any delay. “The Senate needs to pass a stopgap funding measure today,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the floor Friday morning.
The House passed the one-week spending bill Wednesday on a 343-67 vote. Lawmakers in that chamber left for the weekend on Thursday, so if any Senate amendments are adopted, House members would have to come back to clear the stopgap measure for the president's signature.
Final passage of the funding Band-Aid would give lawmakers an extra week to negotiate and pass an omnibus spending package for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. That catchall measure, amounting to roughly $1.4 trillion, is needed because none of the 12 regular appropriations bills for federal agencies have become law.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard C. Shelby, R-Ala., said lawmakers were close to resolving a major sticking point over emergency spending for veterans health care.
Appropriators in both chambers proposed exempting from statutory spending limits about $12.5 billion needed to pay for a program that gives certain veterans access to private health care outside the VA system.
Treating that money as emergency spending exempt from budget caps would free up additional funds that could be used for other nondefense programs. But House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and the Trump administration have expressed opposition to that move.
“I think we can see open field there, but maybe not,” the typically cautious Shelby told reporters Friday.
The omnibus could also include a coronavirus relief package, if lawmakers reach a bipartisan deal in time. A bipartisan group from both chambers have been fine-tuning a $908 billion relief plan, but the two parties have been at odds over whether to provide aid to state and local governments and whether to give employers liability protection from pandemic-related lawsuits.
McConnell called again Friday for removing those two provisions from the aid package. “I propose setting aside both liability protections and state and local bailouts and making law where we agree,” he said on the floor.
And he criticized Democrats for insisting on state and local aid, saying some states have reported revenue increases, not declines.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer insisted again Friday that state and local remains vital. "There are a few states who don't need the help, but many more states do," Schumer said. "Many more.”
And Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, a member of the bipartisan aid group, broke with McConnell to make a plea for state and local aid. “My state has seen a 33% decline in revenues,” she told reporters. “We’re a state that is really, really hurting right now.”
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(Bridget Bowman, Lindsey McPherson and Doug Sword contributed to this report.)
