WASHINGTON — Earlier than President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress can enact a lot of their legislative agenda, they need to take care of some unfinished enterprise: finishing work on the present price range 12 months’s spending payments. It’s a process that, by all accounts, isn’t going nicely.
The present stopgap measure lasts by way of March 14. After that, with out congressional motion, there can be a partial authorities shutdown.
5 weeks is an eternity relating to resolving spending payments in Washington. However Trump’s first weeks in workplace have escalated tensions between the 2 events as the brand new administration reshapes company priorities and dismantles current packages with out congressional approval.
Republican and Democratic leaders of the 2 appropriations committees in Congress have been holding spending invoice talks in late January; aides mentioned the 2 sides have been dedicated to getting a deal executed. However optimism has light in latest days.
“Obviously, the Democrats are not in a good place right now, so they walked away from talks. But it’ll have to resume,” Home Majority Chief Steve Scalise, R-La., mentioned Thursday.
Home Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., gave the same evaluation, contending that feedback by Home Democratic chief Hakeem Jeffries of New York and a few of his colleagues made it appear as if they’re “trying to set up some sort of government shutdown, which I think is very unfortunate. We were negotiating in good faith and trying to get the topline number, but so far as I know, they’ve been sort of unresponsive the last two days or so. So I hope we can get back to it.”
Rep. Tom Cole, the chairman of the Home Appropriations Committee, mentioned he’d heard from Democratic lawmakers as not too long ago as Thursday, so he didn’t imagine they have been strolling away from talks.
“But we’re not making the progress I would hope,” mentioned Cole, R-Okla.
Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the lead Democrat on the Home Appropriations Committee, mentioned “that is false” in response to the assertion that Democrats have withdrawn from negotiations.
“The Democrats have made their offer. We have not walked away from the table,” she mentioned.
Jeffries instructed reporters that DeLauro “has been trying to get Republicans to respond to her for weeks.”
Democrats are struggling to supply a unified response to Trump’s first weeks in workplace as authorities staff are pushed to resign, total businesses are dismantled and Elon Musk’s group from the so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity beneficial properties entry to delicate data of numerous Individuals.
They’re fearful about how present authorities companies are being affected, with Democrats accusing the administration of blocking tons of of billions of {dollars} in beforehand accredited funding. These issues are additionally swaying their pondering as they method the spending invoice negotiations.