Republicans and Democrats are still hammering out a spending package that must be passed by Sept. 30 to keep the government funded and it will be punted another week.
While there had been some speculation that Senators might hurry to finish their work this week to get back to the campaign trail, sticking points on Zika funding and on who has control over internet domain names are still being worked out.
“It’s coming together, but it’s not there yet,” said Sen. John Thune (R-SD). “This bleeds into next week…it’s still coming together”
At the center of one of the hold ups is Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the same man who led a government shutdown fight over Obamacare in the fall of 2013. Cruz wants to block the U.S. government from handing over its power to regulate internet domain names to an international body. That transfer had long been in the works, but Cruz wants to include a measure to block it in the must-past spending legislation.
Cruz is making a pitch that including the internet domain issue in the CR is key to block the Obama administration from “giv[ing] away control of the internet.” And, a few top Republican leaders have also aligned themselves with him.
The issue is fairly obscure, but just the kind of hold up that could leave lawmakers scrambling at a time when they are hungry to get back on the campaign trail ahead of the election. Cruz balked at suggestions that his effort could cause a government shut down.
“Harry Reid and the Democrats love to invoke a shutdown. I suppose because it sends thrills of joy down the legs of liberal activists, but such talk is silliness,” Cruz told TPM. “It is current federal law that Obama administration is prohibited from transferring control of the internet to an international body of foreign governments that do not protect the First Amendment and Congress should maintain current federal law.”
Other hold ups include Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) desire to get the Ex-Im Bank re-authorized to approve larger loans. Because the bank does not have a quorum on its board, it has been unable to approve loans over $10 million.
“It’s crazy that we are losing jobs for no good reason,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said.
Republican senators are still optimistic that the legislation will be worked out sooner than later. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) who is dealing with some discontent in his own conference over the three-month stop gap funding bill, said Thursday said it wasn’t “bogged down,” but that lawmakers were “just going to work our way through it.”
Some Republicans were still blaming Democrats for dragging their feet as well.
“I think they’d love to keep us here longer rather than shorter. It’s advantageous to them,” Thune said.
