McConnell Moves to Kill Omnibus Spending Bill
Politico reports:
Republicans moved Thursday to kill a year-end spending compromise, hoping to gain leverage in what could be a quick strike against President Barack Obama in the next Congress over budget priorities — and quite possibly funding for health care reform.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has tacitly supported the bipartisan negotiations, went public in opposition to the omnibus measure, which the Senate Appropriations Committee hopes to complete drafting Friday. In doing so, the Kentucky Republican aligned himself squarely with the incoming House speaker, Rep. John Boehner, and the goal is to force Congress to rely on another stopgap “continuing resolution,” or CR, to keep the government funded after Dec. 3.
Democrats have only themselves to blame for the crisis now after failing to pass a budget this year or any of the dozen annual appropriations needed to keep agencies functioning. But Republicans — especially in the House — are clearly delighted to prolong the situation in hopes of getting a crack at Obama’s budget when they take power in January.
California Rep. Jerry Lewis, fighting for the post of House Appropriations Committee chairman, is actively promoting the notion of a three-month CR running through only February. That would allow him to set up an early confrontation with Obama over not just deeper cuts from the president’s 2011 budget but also tens of billions of dollars in rescissions from prior years.
Covering virtually the entire government, the giant $1.1 trillion-plus omnibus bill already represents a major concession by Democrats, who have tailored the measure to spending caps McConnell himself championed only months ago.
New discretionary spending — including defense — would grow by $18 billion, or an estimated 2 percent increase over 2010, and Obama’s own 2011 budget would be cut by as much as $26 billion to meet these targets.
If it fails now — and a short-term resolution is adopted — Republicans would gain a powerful vehicle to advance not just their budget agenda but also health care riders early in the next Congress.
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