Leaders of the GOP-controlled House
purportedly plan to vote Wednesday on a $7.9 billion Hurricane Harvey
relief package separate from deciding on whether to raise the federal
debt ceiling, setting up a potential White House showdown and adding
another twist to what will be an action-packed next several weeks on
Capitol Hill.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told “Fox News Sunday” that he and
President Trump wanted Congress to have a combined vote on the relief
package and increasing the debt ceiling, amid concerns that they won’t
have enough money to help clean up from the deadly storm that flooded
much of southeast Texas, then parts of Louisiana.
However, two of the House’s most fiscally conservative groups -- the
House Freedom Caucus and the Republican Study Committee -- have already
balked at the White House plan.
“What happened in Texas is a tragedy and it needs an urgent
Congressional response,” North Carolina Rep. Mark Walker, leader of the
Republican Study Committee, said Monday. “Congress is united behind this
effort, but I worry about jeopardizing an agreement with such
legislative games. … The debt ceiling should be paired with significant
fiscal and structural reforms.”
Meanwhile, Congress’ top two Democrats have signaled some support for
the idea.
"Providing aid in the wake of Harvey and raising the debt ceiling are
both important issues, and Democrats want to work to do both," Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, and House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi, of California, said in a joint statement Sunday. "Given
the interplay between all the issues Congress must tackle in September,
Democrats and Republicans must discuss all the issues together and come
up with a bipartisan consensus."
In addition to having to raising the debt ceiling by Sept. 29 and
appropriate billions to hurricane victims in dire need, Congress also
must pass a separate spending resolution to avoid a government shutdown
after Sept. 30.
The linking of the emergency money and the debt ceiling is just the
latest in a recent series of such proposals -- including Trump vowing
before the hurricane to “close down” the government if the spending
resolution doesn’t include money for his campaign-promised U.S.-Mexico
border wall.
The Associated Press reports the House will vote separately on the debt
ceiling and the Harvey funding.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox News on Monday
the chamber will indeed vote Wednesday on the hurricane money. He also
said he fully realizes Mnuchin’s concerns about having enough money but
was not specific about whether the issues would be combined into one
vote.
The GOP-controlled Senate has not said when or how it will vote on the
issue.
Trump plans to meet with congressional leaders from both parties this
week as lawmakers upon their return.
The government's cash reserves are running low because the debt limit
has already been reached, and the Treasury Department is using various
accounting measures to cover expenses.
Mnuchin originally had said that Congress would need to raise the $19.9
trillion borrowing limit by Sept. 29 to avoid a catastrophic default on
the debt, allowing the government to continue borrowing money to pay
bills like Social Security and interest.
But on Sunday, he said that deadline had moved up due to unexpected new
spending on Harvey.
"Without raising the debt limit, I'm not comfortable that we would get
the money that we need this month to Texas to rebuild," he said.
Trump's aid request would add $7.4 billion to dwindling Federal
Emergency Management Agency disaster aid coffers and $450 million to
finance disaster loans for small businesses. An additional $5 billion to
$8 billion for Harvey could be tucked into a catch-all spending bill
Congress must pass in the coming weeks to fund the government past Sept.
30.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday described the federal aid package as an
important initial "down payment" on Harvey relief that he expects will
come to $150 billion to $180 billion.
GOP lawmakers also head into the final quarter of the year trying pass
Trump’s plan to overhaul the federal tax code.
Meanwhile, Trump may be poised to throw another tricky issue Congress'
way.
The White House says the president on Tuesday will decide the fate of
the younger immigrants brought to the United States as kids and
protected from deportation by former President Obama's Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals. If Trump ends or phases out the program, there
will be pressure for Congress to step in with a fix to save nearly
800,000 from the threat of deportation.
Some Republicans have even begun to talk about the possibility of a deal
to protect this group in exchange for funding Trump's border wall,
despite Democrats called the proposal a nonstarter.
Fox News' Mike Emanuel and The Associated Press contributed to this
report.
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