Republican lawmakers want to get out and campaign against the on coming ‘wave’…..
They are being forced to play small ball….
Not the big game for Donald Trump….
Congressional Republicans, eager to hit the campaign trail to save their imperiled majorities, are starting to narrow their September legislative to-do list in hopes of skipping town early.
But they still have to deal with a handful of looming deadlines, a potential shutdown fight and internal policy tensions — and all on tight timelines.
Appropriators in both chambers still face numerous policy disputes over controversial issues such as abortion as they work to cut deals on spending bills before the close of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. With this week cut short due to the Jewish holiday, and the House on recess next week, lawmakers have just seven legislative days in which both chambers are scheduled to be in session before the government runs out of money.
Leaders also have to dispense with a massive farm bill that’s been stalled amid a House-Senate clash over food stamps. House Republicans, with President Donald Trump’s backing, are still demanding work requirements for low-income beneficiaries — a controversial conservative proposal that has Senate GOP support but cannot attract enough Democrats to become law.
Failure to pass a new farm bill by the Sept. 30 deadline could be a disaster: Republicans say it’s the best way to counteract the ill effects of Trump’s trade war.
The outstanding differences are so great that leaders have all but decided to sideline one of their original three “minibus” spending packages. The new plan includes passing the remaining two and simply extending funding for the rest of the half-dozen or so departments until early December in a so-called continuing resolution, according to three sources with knowledge of the plan. Senate leaders are still hoping they can finish work on the package and pressure the House to take it up.
Leaders also haven’t ruled out extending the farm bill deadline to give themselves more negotiating time, though Republicans in both chambers say they hope they can avoid that. And tensions between the two chambers have simmered below the surface, as Senate and House Republicans blame each other for their slowed progress…..
I thought that this was going to be the session that a real appropriations package for all the departments and agencies, based on a real budget, was going to pass Congress, instead of the endless string of continuing resolutions that have taken their place.
It’s also noteworthy from a political-campaign point of view, that by being forced to cling to Donald Trump’s agenda, almost all Republican candidates now have to positively champion roughly the same programme of government (largely fashioned by Trump and the Freedom Caucus) — whereas the big-tent Democrats, as Nancy Pelosi said in an interview with Chrisiana Amanpour broadcast on PBS last night, can match the candidate and campaign pitch with the particular needs, preferences and desires of the district. For example, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley can win primaries as progressives in New York City and Cambridge-Somerville, Mass., while more moderate Democrats win nominations in more conservative parts of the country.
Democrats where never gonna run as the media has wanted them to….
Just against Trump….
Different strategies will , as you point out, have to be used for different places.
Pelosi has run the House because she IS SMART,,
Oh one can cut it anyway they want.
Trump is the elephant in the room .
That’s not even an arguable point.
Some races will feature Trump
A good many won’t
Depends
Yea he’s a factor
For sure
There are mentions that Rick Scott down in Florida isn’t showcasing Trump…
Several other GOPer’s in tight races where there are indies do NOT need to be running on Trump…
Of course unless they want to gamble their jobs?