WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is considering letting President Donald Trump roll back some of the just-passed $1.3 trillion federal spending package, as Republicans in the House and Senate home on spring recess are getting hammered politically by conservatives for having approved the big spending bill.
Trump has been talking with Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on the plan over the past couple of days, according to an aide to the House leader. It is not clear how widely the idea has been embraced by other top Republicans, including Speaker Paul Ryan or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Congress is on recess until next week.
“There are conversations right now,” said Matt Sparks, a spokesman for McCarthy. “The administration and Congress and McCarthy are talking about it.”
The idea centers on a rarely-used provision of the 1974 Congressional Budget and Impound Control Act. It allows the White House to propose rescinding funds and forces the House and Senate to vote on the issue.
Trump, who toyed with vetoing the sweeping spending bill before signing it into law, has been fuming since Congress passed it last month. He is particularly upset the packaged did not include $25 billion he sought for the border wall with Mexico.
But the $1.3 trillion package, which funds the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year, through Sept. 30, also ran into a buzzsaw of opposition from conservative media figures, including on Fox News. Lawmakers home on spring recess are feeling the brunt of the criticism.
The measure burst through previous-set budget caps to allow new spending for the military and a range of domestic programs.
Sparks didn’t specify how much spending could be rescinded or in what categories, but Trump would likely seek to focus on domestic spending he has derided in recent tweets.
So, in effect, a kind of line item veto?
I see no other outcome for this wishy-washy Republican congress but swift removal in the upcoming mid-term elections.
No. The rule would allow the president to request that certain funds be rescended. Congress would then need to approve the order. They would have 45 days or else things proceed as they would normally anyway.
Usually such requests are ignored by Congress. It is at best forcing Congress to consider something with regard to WH priorities.
The problem is that, should this be passed and rescind a chunk of the domestic funding, the Democrats would lose much of what they gained in the budget bill. Is this right?
The only way he’ll get a rescission is if it’s across the board and that means taking money away from the military.
A targeted rescission would not be very useful if it targets discretionary spending. As Krugman says: “Think of the federal government as an insurance company with an army.” Discretionary spending is peanuts. He won’t go looking for cash from the military. That means cuts in the social safety net. He’ll get zero dem votes and the carnage will all be on the Pubbies.