Democrats look to push forward spending plans as government shutdown looms – Live | US News

According to Politico, House Minority Whip Steve scalise said this morning that the Republican leadership would encourage members to vote against Democrats’ government spending bill.

If all House Republicans oppose the bill, then nearly all House Democrats will need to support it to get it through.

And those hurdles will arise before the bill makes it to the equally divided Senate, where it currently has no path to the 60 votes needed for passage.

Congressman Rose DeLauro, the Democratic chair of the House appropriations committee said the spending bill “meets the continuing needs of people who live paycheck to paycheck.”

“It is essential that Congress passes this legislation swiftly to support essential education, health, housing and public safety programs and to provide emergency assistance to disaster survivors and Afghan evacuees,” DeLauro said in a statement.

Noting that the bill includes funds for the resettlement of Afghan refugees and response to natural disasters, DeLauro added, “By extending funding until December 3, this legislation will allow Congress to negotiate funding bills. year-round government investments that make historic and transformative investments for the benefit of working families. . As we take this step today, bringing help to those who desperately need it is a moral imperative. “

The House Appropriations Committee released the text of a bill to maintain government funding beyond month-end and raise the debt ceiling.

If enacted, the bill would maintain public funding until December 3 and suspend the debt ceiling until December 16.

The legislation would also invest $ 28.6 billion in natural disaster response and $ 6.3 billion in efforts to relocate Afghan refugees.

However, the leader of the senatorial minority Mitch mcconnell has pledged to oppose any effort to raise the debt ceiling, so it remains unclear how this bill could get through the upper house.

The blog will have more details to come. Stay tuned.

Democrats try to put pressure on the leader of the senatorial minority Mitch mcconnell on his insistence on Republicans will not help raise the debt ceiling.

“Two years ago, @LeaderMcConnell said, “America cannot fail. It would be a disaster. Yet now he and @ SenateGOP are trying to force America’s very first default ”, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said on Twitter.

“All members must come together in a bipartisan spirit to protect the full faith and credit of the United States”

But McConnell has a somewhat notorious history of not giving in to lobbying campaigns, his handling of Supreme Court overtures being probably the most famous example.

And so far, McConnell has given no indication of easing his stance on the debt ceiling, even as Democrats have helped Republicans raise the debt ceiling while at the same time. Donald trump was president.

Intra-party arguments on Democrats’ A $ 3.5 billion reconciliation package has raised concerns that the bill, which is seen as the backbone of Joe bidenthe economic agenda of, could fail.

Political reports:

Moderate Senate Democrats Joe manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Cinema (Arizona) continue to be a major headache for the party leadership’s $ 3.5 trillion goal. The parliamentarian of the Senate has just put an end to the efforts made by the party for years to adopt a broad immigration reform. Members of the House can defeat the prescription drug overhaul the party has carried out for years. And a fight continues to brew for Sen. Bernie sanders‘(I-Vt.) Push to expand Medicare.

“If a congressman isn’t worried about this breaking down, he needs treatment,” the representative said. Cleaver Emmanuel (D-Mo.), Who warned his party “will pay him at the polls” if he fails to implement Biden’s agenda. “Our caucus has a sense of the freedom to support or oppose leadership.”

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

Congress Democrats are trying to put out the fires on multiple fronts as they seek to simultaneously advance their economic agenda and avoid a government shutdown.

Democratic leaders scramble for both bipartisan infrastructure bill and $ 3.5 billion reconciliation package Joe bidenthe office of.

However, progressive lawmakers have threatened to torpedo the infrastructure bill unless they receive guarantees that the reconciliation package will also pass, while moderate Democrats demand that the reconciliation package be reduced.

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders are also trying to avoid a government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling, essentially daring Republicans to help them do that.

leader of the senatorial minority Mitch mcconnell insisted that Republicans will not help Democrats raise the debt ceiling, even though both sides have acted in concert to raise the debt ceiling for Donald trumpthe Presidency.

Democrats are combining a government spending proposal and a debt ceiling suspension in one bill, which means the United States could face a government shutdown and economic disaster if Republicans follow through at McConnell’s threat.

Negotiations on all of these proposals will continue today on Capitol Hill. Stay tuned.