By Kristina Peterson and Natalie Andrews
WASHINGTON -- Capitol Hill is a hotbed of partisan fighting, but
a handful of congressional leaders are quietly working across the
aisle to stabilize the government's finances.
Away from the headline-grabbing recriminations over whether to
impeach President Trump, senior lawmakers in both parties are
focused on smoothing the path for Congress to keep the government
open for two years after its current funding expires on Oct. 1.
Along the way, they are trying to avoid a bill-derailing debate
over abortion, prevent a debt default and give lawmakers a modest
pay raise.
"The forces of partisanship and polarization are very, very
strong and still eating away at the institution. Appropriators are
probably one of the last places you'll see that happen," said Rep.
Tom Cole (R., Okla.), referring to his fellow members on the House
Appropriations Committee, which writes spending bills. "It's an
island of bipartisanship."
House Democratic leaders have opted to maintain a detente over
abortion funding in their efforts to pass a spending bill. Despite
pressure from progressives to remove it, Democratic leaders
included in the bill expected to pass this week an amendment that
bans federal funds for most abortions. Democratic presidential
candidate Joe Biden this month faced such stinging criticism from
the party's left wing for supporting the Hyde amendment that a day
later he reversed his stance.
"I never have liked the Hyde amendment, and I've never
understood why we just don't just go after it and outright repeal
it," said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D., Va.). But, he said, that alone
won't lead him or many in the caucus to vote against the spending
bill that includes it. "In voting for or against any bill, it's a
calculus: you weigh the good versus the bad," he said. Spending
bills without the abortion-funding restriction would be unlikely to
pass the GOP-controlled Senate.
Meanwhile, Senate GOP leaders met with top White House officials
last week to continue negotiations aimed at reaching a two-year
budget deal and raising the government's borrowing limit, known as
the debt ceiling. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) have said they hope to raise the
limit as part of any budget deal, to make sure the government can
continue paying all its bills on time.
The Treasury Department has been using extraordinary measures
since March to conserve cash, but the government could begin to
miss payments by early fall without a debt-limit increase.
While some administration officials have been skeptical of
anything longer than a one-year spending agreement, congressional
leaders have been pushing to strike a two-year accord. Lawmakers
said a longer-term agreement would make it easier for them to write
spending bills and diminish the prospects of another partial
government shutdown, after the five-week closure that ended earlier
this year.
"A two-year deal would be in everybody's best interests," said
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R.,
Ala.)
Since Congress and former President Obama agreed to lower
federal spending as a way to resolve a 2011 debt-ceiling fight,
lawmakers have regularly struck two-year deals to raise both
military and nonmilitary spending levels, the most recent of which
expires at the end of September. Absent an agreement by early next
year, domestic spending for fiscal 2020 would be cut by $55 billion
and military spending by $71 billion, compared with fiscal 2019
levels.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said that congressional
leaders, "left to their own devices," would be perfectly capable of
striking another agreement to avoid the deep cuts.
"There is bipartisanship in all of this. We know what we have to
do. We can get it done," she said last week, while signaling
concerns about how willing Mr. Trump and the White House will be to
compromise.
White House officials have said they are concerned about the
impact a two-year deal raising spending would have on the federal
deficit.
Some of the behind-the-scenes efforts have hit hurdles. House
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D., Md.) and Minority Leader Kevin
McCarthy (R., Calif.) agreed privately this month to allow for a
$4,500 cost-of-living salary increase for members and staff, the
first in a decade. That deal, according to congressional aides,
included provisions that neither party would air attack ads against
those who voted for it, and that both leaders would ensure enough
bipartisan support for passage while still allowing lawmakers in
competitive districts to vote against, thus neutralizing it as a
campaign issue.
But, while many members support the increase, House Republicans'
campaign arm attacked freshman Democrats for allowing the bill to
pass committee, and many freshmen who ran on ending corruption in
Washington vocalized their angst over the raise, leading Democratic
leaders to pull the pay increase from a package of legislation.
Rank-and-file House lawmakers currently make $174,000. Lawmakers
have suspended an automatic 2.6% annual pay bump for the past
decade. Negotiations for the raise are continuing.
Lawmakers said their public feuds often mask deeper,
across-the-aisle relationships, particularly in the Senate where
most bills need bipartisan support to clear procedural hurdles.
Last week, GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson flew in barbecue ribs and
macaroni and cheese from his home state of Georgia for a bipartisan
lunch, attended by Sens. John Cornyn (R., Texas) and Chris Coons
(D., Del.) among others.
"People sort of eat and drink as friends and fight in public,"
Mr. Cornyn said.
Write to Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com and
Natalie Andrews at Natalie.Andrews@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 16, 2019 07:44 ET (11:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.