Welcome to December, which will be packed with
opportunities for Congress to display just how dysfunctional it has
become. Lawmakers are off to a depressingly strong start on that
front, as conservatives opposed to President Biden’s vaccine
mandate threaten to force a brief government shutdown even as some
of their GOP colleagues object to the strategy. Some Senate
Republicans have also delayed a vote on the massive annual National
Defense Authorization Act as they push for more votes on
amendments, though lawmakers are reportedly
moving toward a deal that could allow them to pass
the bill Thursday.
Here's what’s going on:
Government Shutdown Suddenly Looking More
Likely
So much for a quick and easy fix on government funding.
The odds of a brief government shutdown rose sharply Wednesday
after a group of Republican lawmakers who oppose a Covid-19 vaccine
mandate threatened to delay a stopgap funding bill.
Conservatives in both the House and Senate were pushing a plan
to block a bill that would keep the government open for a few more
weeks after funding runs out on Friday, with the goal of removing
funds that would pay for the vaccine and testing mandate imposed by
the Biden administration.
The delay could force a government shutdown lasting at least
through the weekend.
Opposing the mandate: President Joe Biden issued a
directive in September requiring companies with more than 100
employees to require vaccines for their workers or set up a weekly
testing program by January. Many Republicans say the directive is
unconstitutional. Republican Sens. Mike Lee (UT), Ted Cruz (TX),
Roger Marshall (KS) and Ron Johnson (WI) have all spoken out
against the Biden policy. “We’re opposed to the mandate,” Johnson
said Wednesday. “We don’t want the federal government to be able to
fund them in any way, shape or form.”
In the House, the conservative Freedom Caucus wrote a letter to
McConnell asking him to deploy “all procedural tools at his
disposal to deny timely passage” of the bill. And Rep. Chip Roy
(R-TX) expressed support for the hardline senators’ strategy.
“Don't fund a government that is tyrannically forcing people to get
a vaccine that they don't want to get,” he told Fox News.
Delaying the vote: Democrats say the conservatives'
potential move would upend negotiations they hoped would produce a
continuing resolution, or CR, that would fund the government into
early 2022. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY)
summarized the state of play Wednesday: “We’re making good progress
on the CR. I hope a small group of Republicans don’t choose
obstruction and try to shut down the government,” he said. “We need
to come together and keep the government open.”
Not all Republicans back Lee’s approach, with some citing a
recent court ruling that has suspended the Biden administration’s
vaccine mandate. “I just don’t quite understand the strategy or the
play of leverage for a mandate that’s been stayed by 10 courts,”
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) said. “I want the vaccine mandates lifted,
but I don’t think the [spending bill] is the tool to do it. For all
practical purposes the mandates weaken every single day.”
Other Republicans are optimistic that Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) can keep his caucus together and prevent a
shutdown. But the small group of GOP senators led by Lee may defy
McConnell and object to unanimous consent on the bill, kicking off
a round of procedural delays that could take as long as nine days
to work through, according to
The Hill, though most observers expect the
potential shutdown to last just through the weekend.
One possible deal being discussed to avoid a delay is for
Schumer to allow the Senate to vote on an amendment to the bill
that would prohibit the vaccine mandate from taking effect, with
the requirement for passage lowered to a simple majority (51)
rather than 60. That vote would likely be largely symbolic, though,
even if Republican lawmakers can persuade conservative Democrat
Sen. Joe Manchin (WV) to support the amendment, since President
Biden is unlikely to sign the amendment into law.
The bottom line: There isn’t much appetite for a
government shutdown, but a handful of hardline Republicans may
force the issue in their battle against vaccine mandates, possibly
producing a government closure that lasts a few days.
Fact Check of the Day: Yellen Says the Build Back Better Act Is
‘Fully Paid For’
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Senate Banking
Committee Tuesday that President Biden’s Build Back Better plan
“is fully paid for, or even more than fully paid for. And CBO
just completed a comprehensive review of it in which they found
essentially the same thing.”
She went on to acknowledge that the official Congressional
Budget Office score actually finds that the plan would add $367
billion to deficits through 2031, but noted that number did not
include an estimated $207 billion in revenue from beefed up IRS
enforcement — and that the Treasury Department estimates that the
tax agency crackdown will generate a net $400 billion, which would
lift the revenue generated by the Build Back Better bill above its
costs.
Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler on Wednesday
awarded Yellen “Two Pinocchios” (on a scale of zero to four) for
her claim. “No one can accurately predict what will happen to tax
collections after the IRS is suddenly flush with cash, personnel
and new technology. The Treasury Department has grounds to dispute
the CBO’s estimate,” he
wrote. “But the fact remains that the CBO is
regarded as a neutral arbiter, the official scorekeeper, and the
rules on budget scorekeeping help the administration claim its plan
is budget-neutral as much as it hurts it. Yellen cannot pick and
choose what part of the CBO score she chooses to accept to claim
that the CBO found that the Build Back Better bill is
deficit-neutral.”
Quote of the Day
“This is a moment of extraordinary opportunity for improving
health policy and improving the health coverage that people
get.”
− Stan Dorn, director of the National Center for
Coverage Innovation at the advocacy group Families USA, in a
New York Times article detailing how the Build
Back Better Act would “represent the biggest step toward universal
coverage since the passage of the Affordable Care Act.”
News
Tick, Tick: House Ends Day With No Shutdown Deal –
Politico
Friday Shutdown Deadline in Danger Over Vaccine Rule
Dustup – Roll Call
McConnell's Latest Challenge: Stopping a Shutdown Over
Vaccine Mandates – Politico
Republicans Feud Over Vaccine Shutdown Fight –
Politico
Senate ‘SALT’ Consensus Elusive as Budget Bill Vote
Approaches – Roll Call
Democrats’ Bill Would Go Far Toward ‘Patching the Holes’ in
Health Coverage – New York Times
A Top Official Says the Fed Will ‘Grapple’ With a Faster
Bond-Buying Taper – New York Times
Biden Sees Progress in Supply Crisis Amid Faster
Inflation – Bloomberg
Oregon Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio, Chairman of
Transportation Panel, to Retire at End of His Term –
Washington Post
First Confirmed US Case of Omicron Coronavirus Variant
Detected in California – CNN
Fauci Says Biden Administration Is Preparing for Possible
‘Variant-Specific Boost’ – Washington Post
‘Don’t Freak Out’ Over Omicron, Says Chief of Covid Vaccine
Maker BioNTech – Washington Post
Moderna Loses Patent Battles Tied to COVID Vaccine
– Axios
Defense Secretary Warns Unvaccinated National Guard Members
Won't Be Paid – CNN
Biden Will Mark World AIDS Day With New National HIV/AIDS
Strategy – CNN
Advocacy Blitz Targets Medicare Coverage of Obesity
Treatment – Roll Call
Poll: Young Americans Say They're Fearful About the Future of
the Country – CNN
US Navy Wants to Create More Lethal Pilots for Less Money
With Simulators – Defense News
Views and Analysis
Don’t Play Politics With the National Defense Authorization
Act – Charles V. Ickes, Washington Times
The NDAA Likely Won’t Become Law Until 2022. That’s ‘Not The
End of the World’ – Jacqueline Feldscher, Defense
One
What to Watch as Congress Winds Down – Jonathan
Bernstein, Bloomberg
As Biden Repeats Obama’s Mistakes, Get Ready for 2010
Redux – David Winston, Roll Call
Democrats' Subsidy for Union-Made Electric Vehicles Faces a
Bumpy Road in the Senate – Maxine Joselow, Washington
Post
Powell's 'Transitory' Retreat Is Just the
Beginning – Mohamed A. El-Erian, Bloomberg
Republicans Battle Over ‘Socialism-Lite’ – Michael
R. Strain, Bloomberg
To Counter Omicron, Covid-19 Treatments Must Be Cheap and
Accessible – Rachel Cohen, New York Times
The Two Halves of the Pandemic – Philip Bump,
Washington Post
It’s Probable That Fewer Seniors Have Been Vaccinated Than
the Government Claims – Philip Bump, Washington
Post
Merck’s Covid Drug Will Do for Now, Just in Time for
Omicron – Therese Raphael and Sam Fazeli,
Bloomberg
Let’s End the Covid Blame Games – Bret Stephens,
New York Times
Congress Must Pass the Huntington’s Disease Disability
Insurance Access Act – Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY),
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ), and Rep.
Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Roll Call
‘Needle Nazis,’ ‘Medical Brown Shirts,’ Mengele and Stars of
David: How Nazi-Coronavirus Comparisons Have Proliferated on the
Right – Aaron Blake, Washington Post