Debt-Ceiling and Spending Negotiations Split Republicans
July 21 2019 - 6:29PM
Dow Jones News
By Andrew Duehren
WASHINGTON -- Some conservative House Republicans are asking
President Trump to reject any agreement to set new spending levels
and increase the government's borrowing limit without significant
spending cuts, injecting further uncertainty into negotiations
toward a deal this week.
Rep. Mike Johnson (R., La.), the chairman of the conservative
Republican Study Committee, a group of around 150 conservative
Republicans, spoke with President Trump on Saturday about his
concerns with the still-developing budget agreement. "We believe
the White House and congressional leadership should be prepared to
walk away from this if necessary," Mr. Johnson said in an
interview. "I'm encouraged after speaking with the president."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin continued to negotiate throughout the weekend,
speaking on the phone on Saturday, according to an aide for Mrs.
Pelosi. Mr. Mnuchin last week said both sides -- Republicans
control the White House and Senate, while Democrats control the
House -- have agreed on raising the debt ceiling for two years and
setting spending levels but not on how to pay for the increases
above limits set in a 2011 law.
Mr. Johnson and other members of the conservative group want the
cost of any agreement to be fully offset by other spending cuts and
include an extension of the limits set in the 2011 law. Mr. Johnson
said that the agreement includes a roughly $320 billion increase
over limits set in the 2011 law, though that figure may not be
final.
Administration officials have indicated that they want to reach
an agreement that will win the support of House Republicans. The
Trump administration is seeking roughly $150 billion in spending
cuts, offering a list of potential offsets that a Democratic aide
close to the talks has called "nonstarters."
Looming behind negotiations over spending levels is the federal
borrowing limit. Mr. Mnuchin has said the U.S. could exceed the
ceiling in early September, before lawmakers return from a summer
recess, pressing negotiators to reach an agreement this week.
Should the government's ability to borrow become limited, it could
begin to miss payments on obligations such as Social Security and
veterans benefits or interest on the debt.
House conservatives want the president to follow the advice of
acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Russell Vought,
the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, both of
whom have called for spending cuts. Senate Appropriations Committee
Chairman Richard Shelby (R., Ala.) said he is hopeful that Mr.
Trump has entrusted negotiations to Mr. Mnuchin.
"I think the secretary has been forthcoming and forthwith and is
trying to avoid a catastrophe on the debt limit and also on
appropriations," Mr. Shelby said. "I think he has been a voice of
reason."
Rep. Chip Roy (R., Texas), who wrote a letter signed by more
than 40 House Republicans earlier this year advocating to keep
spending within limits set in the 2011 law, said he has spoken with
Messrs. Mulvaney and Vought about the negotiations.
"The president should be listening to Mick Mulvaney and Russ
Vought, and he should not be listening to Steven Mnuchin, period,"
Mr. Roy said. He added that his Republican colleagues in the Senate
weren't sufficiently committed to cutting spending. "Senate
Republicans will never not find a corner where they can go and
hide," he added.
This set of spending negotiations isn't the first complicated by
differences among Republicans. Last year, a stopgap measure to keep
the government open passed the Senate but was rejected by Mr.
Trump, who withdrew his support and called on House Republicans to
pass legislation with more funding for a border wall. That prompted
the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
More recently, Mr. Trump has shown a willingness to side with
Senate Republicans, who have to work with House Democrats to get
spending plans through Congress. After months of wrangling over a
disaster relief funding, Mr. Trump accepted a compromise to provide
additional money to Puerto Rico and address a humanitarian aid
package for the southern border separately.
To get Mr. Trump to agree to the disaster aid deal, Sens. Shelby
and David Perdue (R., Ga.) called to encourage him to accept the
agreement. Two stalwart conservatives, Reps. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio)
and Mark Meadows (R., N.C.), were in the Oval Office during the
call and urged him to oppose it, according to a person familiar
with the conversation.
Initial proposals from the administration to maintain current
spending levels for an additional year quickly lost favor with
Senate Republicans, who warned about the consequences for increased
military spending if no budget deal is reached.
"I think the result of all these different voices is going to
mean that the outcome here remains uncertain until the legislation
is passed, basically," said Shai Akabas, the economic policy
director at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank in
Washington.
Kate Davidson contributed to this article.
Write to Andrew Duehren at andrew.duehren@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 21, 2019 19:14 ET (23:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.