This isn’t an unfamiliar situation. He wouldn’t budge because he didn’t have enough votes and thought it would have been a waste of time. In fact, the Senate already started work on a clean funding bill to prepare to send to the House by the September 30 deadline. He grasped that a repetition would only damage the party with voters going into the presidential election – and would not actually end up defunding Planned Parenthood.
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“The onus will be on the new speaker, probably more so than McConnell”, former Senate Republican aide Brian Walsh, told the newspaper.
However, with the sudden resignation of House Speak John Boeher on Friday, the threat from hard-line Republicans to ouster him if he negotiates with Democrats also lost its coercive power.
Scalise is popular with members but is a low-key presence who prefers to build ties over long dinners of Cajun food in his first-floor office suite. Under the special process, called reconciliation, the Senate can pass legislation with just 51 votes.
Before those issues can be tackled, Congress must ensure the government has money to operate beyond Wednesday, when the current fiscal year ends and appropriations expire.
The Senate plans to take a final vote as soon as Tuesday on the short-term spending bill, HR 719, that would finance the government through December 11.
How the Position is Elected: According to the Congressional Research Service, the heads of each respective conference are elected in the same manner as the majority leader and majority whip: in a closed-door meeting and through a secret ballot. By the time December rolls around, they’re hoping to have worked out new funding levels for the rest of the 2016 budget year. Republicans are likely to oppose them.
And again, its all because John Boehner is giving his seat to an extremist Republican.
Speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday, Boehner offered advice for his successor, whomever that may be.
Protesters calling on Congress to defund Planned Parenthood in September 2015. That’s what they always say in the run-up to a deadline. Or will he follow the Boehner strategy, breaking the Hastert Rule if that’s what it takes to keep the government open? Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, spoke for many on the right when he said, “We welcome Republican leadership that understands that a few values, like life, religious liberty and national defence, are worth fighting for – no matter what”.
But with any luck, the speaker was also referring to action on the federal debt ceiling, which should have been raised months ago and will need to be hiked in the next month or two before the Treasury runs out of cash and can’t pay certain benefits such as Social Security. Ironically, the Freedom Index of The New American magazine shows Boehner and Cole with identical scores of only 52 percent (of votes in line with the Constitution). If McCarthy fails to get commitments from the vast majority of conservatives, it’s possible a small group could derail his candidacy and deal him a very public embarrassment. And since senators represent states rather than districts and have a far wider range of voters, they usually espouse more moderate views than representatives. His decision – and other House leadership races – have highlighted divisions between more pragmatic Republicans and hardline conservative wing that is increasingly prominent in Congress, especially in the rough-and-tumble House. No spending will be cut.
Cole is typical of those more “pragmatic” Republicans in Congress who supported Boehner. He moved up to Majority Leader in August 2014 after Eric Cantor left Congress following a defeat in a primary election.
The Texas lawmaker assailed his GOP leadership, saying it “reflexively surrenders at the outset”, while complimenting Democrats for their willingness to “crawl on broken glass with a knife between their teeth” to fight for their policies. And that will depend on how the rest of the leadership elections go.
Democrats helped beleaguered House Republican leaders pass the measure by 277-151 – a lopsided vote shrouding deep disagreements within the GOP – after the Senate approved it by a 78-20 tally earlier in the day.
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Obama “simply has to utter the word shutdown and Republican leadership runs to the hills”, Cruz said. The site invites visitors to cast a no-confidence vote against the majority leader and get a free “Ditch Mitch” bumper sticker in return.
