The New Democrat

Source:Politico– left to right; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat, New York) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Republican, Kentucky)

“The measure effectively punts bigger fights on Ukraine aid and disaster relief in order to move the agreement more quickly through the Senate.

Senate leaders released the details of a seven-week stopgap spending bill on Tuesday afternoon, hoping to pass a bill through both chambers of Congress within five days — and little room for error.

The temporary spending bill, called a continuing resolution, would fund federal agencies at current levels through Nov. 17, setting up another government funding deadline before Thanksgiving rather than at midnight on Saturday. It would provide about $6 billion each for Ukraine and disaster aid, far below the White House’s requests for each, and include the Federal Aviation Administration extension through the end of the year. It provides no additional funding for the border.

The measure effectively punts bigger fights on Ukraine aid and disaster relief in order to move the agreement more quickly through the Senate, as conservatives threaten to delay the bill amid objections to Ukraine funding and other issues. All 100 senators have to agree to greenlight fast passage under the chamber’s rules, otherwise a final vote wouldn’t occur until after the shutdown deadline had passed.

Still, the measure could easily pass the Senate and stall in the House, where Speaker Kevin McCarthy continues to try mustering conservative support for any sort of stopgap funding plan. Hardliners in that chamber have threatened to try to boot the speaker if he works with Democrats to keep the government open.

A ‘standard’ funding fix: Before unveiling the text, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the stopgap “a bridge. Not a final destination.”

“We can and must do more to respond to disasters that have ravaged the country,” he said. “We can and must do more to stand with our friends in Ukraine.”

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell billed the measure as a “standard, responsible step forward” that buys more time for bipartisan negotiations on a broader government funding deal and Ukraine aid, among other issues.

“The sooner Congress keeps the light on, the sooner these conversations can resume,” he said.

What’s next: The Senate will take its first step toward advancing the measure on Tuesday night, leaving very little time to clear all the procedural hurdles and send it to the House, where a Republican quagmire over government funding awaits.

The bare bones continuing resolution is intended to make things less complicated for McCarthy. But the California Republican will surely have to rely on Democratic votes to pass the measure in its current form — if he allows it to come up for a vote at all — potentially endangering his speakership.”

From Politico

Last week, former U.S. Representative Charlie Dent (Republican, Pennsylvania) who left the House in 2018. because he was worried about the Democratic wave that was about to happen and did happen in 2018, said on CNN that he expects the Senate to pass a bipartisan government funding, with an overwhelming vote in the Senate and then they would go home. Meaning it’s then up to the House to try to pass anything, including taking up the Senate bill, just to keep the government open. I think we’re starting to see that in the Senate now, led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

So after the Senate passes it’s bill perhaps tomorrow, the ball then would be moved to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy’s court, where he would then have a choice: take the Senate’s bill and come back in November and continue negotiations on Ukraine, disaster relief, and additional border security, but risk losing his speakership, if House MAGA really goes through on their motion to vacate him.

But, if the Speaker just takes the bill and it passes overwhelmingly in the Senate, with perhaps just House MAGA and a handful of left-wing Democrats voting against it, then perhaps House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries would move for his members to bail out the Speaker on a motion to vacate, if Speaker McCarthy takes the Senate’s bipartisan bill and brings it up for a vote in the House.

Or, the alternative could be, that Senate passes it’s bill with 80-90 votes, the House does nothing, let alone passes anything, the government shutdowns, House MAGA and perhaps Speaker McCarthy gets blamed for that and now their rail-thin majority in the House, is in serious jeopardy about a year from now.

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