Let’s keep this FReepathon moving and wrap it up, Folks!
Posted on 09/11/2019 3:02:16 PM PDT by jazusamo
Senate Democrats are threatening to withhold their votes on a spending bill for the Pentagon unless Republicans agree to block President Trump from repurposing defense funds for his wall on the Mexican border, a tactic he’s employed in recent months.
Democrats on Thursday will offer an amendment in committee to block Trump from reprogramming defense funds for his wall.
“There will likely be some amendments offered, and my vote on final passage depends on the fate of those amendments,” said Sen. Dick Durban (Ill.), the top Democrat on the appropriations subcommittee on defense.
While the bill could squeak through the committee with GOP support, Democratic votes will be needed for the measure to win Senate approval. “It doesn’t portend very well for what’s going to happen on the floor, because we all know that without bipartisan support, appropriation bills are very difficult to call and pass,” Durbin said.
Political wrangling has not been limited to the defense bill.
Committee work on two other spending bills were scrapped as Democrats prepared amendments blocking President Trump’s abortion policies. Republicans say that violates a deal to keep controversial policy riders, or “poison pills,” out of the spending bills.
“Both sides agreed there would be no poison pills. No partisan wrenches thrown into the gears,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell lamented on Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, yesterday brought some disturbing signals that Democrats may be rethinking that commitment,” he added
The abortion battles affect the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education spending bill, and the appropriations measure for State and Foreign Operations.
That leaves the typically non-controversial Energy and Water bill and so-called 302 b allocations, which divvy up total spending among the 12 annual appropriations bills.
But Democrats are complaining about those measures too, arguing that Republicans have shuffled resources to pay for portions of Trump’s proposed wall and backfill accounts he has emptied for that purpose.
“We’re not going to vote for a budget that is partisan, attempted to be jammed down our throat, that puts an additional $12 billion in the wall. Forget that,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
Without a change, Democrats could withhold support from all the bills.
“With the 302b allocations as they are today, I am not going to support them,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the committee’s vice chairman, is planning on offering an amendment proposing a different set of 302 b’s, but barring an agreement with Republicans, it stands no chance of passage.
“We like them like they are,” said Sen. Richard Shelby, the committee’s chairman.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a committee member who has been known to cross the aisle and faces a tough reelection in 2020, said Democrats have not said what their preferred spending levels are.
“The Democrats have not seen fit to share with me at least the 302 Bs that they are going to propose,” she said Wednesday morning. “If they were trying to advocate you would think they would let us know what they were.”
But even if the bills pass through committee on a party line basis, appropriators could work something out before bills come to the floor, noted Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.)
“I think we’re going to continue to negotiate,” she said.
Members of Congress are clear that they have little chance of getting any spending bills signed into law by the September 30th deadline, and are preparing a stopgap measure into mid-November to prevent a government shutdown.
Just dedicate 5 billion specifically for the wall then.
When have they ever been serious about our security?
And it was just Saturday they were sooo concerned about the funding.
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3777411/posts
“The well-being of American troops is the core responsibility of every commander in the military, yet the Commander-in-Chief is shirking that duty so he can advance his own political agenda.”
.
Then no funding. Let them run on open borders and no defense.
They are insane and dangerous, literally.
Shut the government down.
Really. What was your first clue?
Some Dems might want to stand for re-election on the platform that they de-funded national defense, but I bet not nearly enough to make any difference.
Yep, their political BS strategy changes on a daily basis for what they think is good for them.
Send in the Army to watch the vote. (Rubicon Crossing meme)
And what does the boss, AOC, have to say about this?
“Democrats threaten to withhold defense votes over wall”
Go ahead! Just another boost for PDJT in 2020.
Just so I understand this.
$3.6 Billion to protect our Nation’s Border out of a Defense Budget of $725 Billion (and a total Federal Budget of $4.4 Trillion Dollars) will hurt American Troops?
How so, no more Snickers Bars in the Mess Hall?
Unfortunately most Americans are too dumb or disinterested to realize what a bunch of bastards they have in Congress, and the importance of voting about 90% of them out of office.
Who would replace them? Do it by forced conscription. The average person whose name was drawn at random would do a better job. Especially since they wouldn’t want to be there in the first place.
The best candidate to serve in Congress? Someone who doesn’t want the job.
Let them do it
Let them do it
Let’s keep this FReepathon moving and wrap it up, Folks!
It can pass committee with no Democrat votes.
Leadership agreed to not add any poison pills to the appropriations bills.
We’ll have to see how good their hand shake deal holds up.
Agree. I encourage the rats to stand and fight for that hill.
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