WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Republicans are considering one final reconciliation package before Democrats take control of the House and Senate.
- Possible provisions include Iran war funding, a debt limit increase, voting restrictions, cryptocurrency policy and hemp regulations.
- Democrats could use government funding and Pentagon legislation as leverage while slowing reconciliation through amendment votes.
- Republican divisions over spending, debt and policy priorities could derail the party’s last minute push.
Voters rejected the Republican agenda Tuesday and handed Democrats control of both the House and Senate. Still, with two months before power changes hands, top GOP lawmakers are eyeing one last partisan push through Congress.
Republicans are discussing a catch all reconciliation package for the lame duck session that could combine billions for the Iran war with a debt limit increase, voting restrictions, crypto measures and hemp policy. Because reconciliation can pass without Democratic input, GOP divisions may be the only barrier to the package.
Separate deadlines will require cooperation across party lines. Government funding expires Dec. 11, and Congress still must pass its annual Pentagon policy bill before the end of the year.
The schedule leaves lawmakers only a few weeks in session, creating a significant time crunch. Attendance could also become a problem because lawmakers who are not returning next year can be difficult to keep in Washington.
Democrats could use those must pass bills as leverage while Republicans try to force through reconciliation. They are likely to demand more votes to end the Iran war, while the House must address a vote to impeach War Secretary Pete Hegseth during the final days of the 119th Congress.
The obstacles have not stopped Republicans from plotting an ambitious finale. “If we lose control of Congress, it’ll be the Last Supper,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, told reporters in October.
Moreno said a Republican loss of both chambers should mean lawmakers remain in Washington from Nov. 9 through Dec. 31 without a break. Democrats went on to win both the House and Senate on Tuesday.
Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who became Senate Budget Committee chair in July, pursued a reconciliation package over the summer with up to $150 billion in spending. That outline focused largely on military, border and immigration spending but never became a full bill before the campaign recess.
“We’re talking about doing a bigger and better one” after the election, Johnson told MS NOW in September. He said the new package should include military and immigration spending, a debt limit increase, unspecified “fraud-reduction” provisions and “election integrity” measures.
Johnson said Senate Majority Leader John Thune committed in late September to seeking a reconciliation bill during the lame duck session. Thune confirmed discussing the matter with Johnson and described a debt limit provision as one of the “potential options” for inclusion.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, argued that the package should contain partisan defense spending because negotiations over government funding could stall. “In that scenario, we have got to plus-up our national defense in a big way, and reconciliation may be the only way to do it,” Cramer said.
Democrats could slow reconciliation through two rounds of virtually unlimited amendment votes. If Republicans need Democratic support on the debt limit, Sen. Jeff Merkley said he would begin with Social Security solvency, cutting “waste in the medical world and in the defense world” and “reversing some of the giveaways to the richest Americans.”
Spending negotiations already stalled over the summer as Democrats opposed President Donald Trump’s war with Iran and negotiators failed to agree on overall defense spending. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats would not let the annual authorization measure “become a permission slip for that recklessness that we see occurring in Iran.”
Republicans are also divided over what belongs in the package. Sen. Cynthia Lummis wants a cryptocurrency measure, while Rep. Morgan Griffith wants provisions regulating intoxicating hemp products, and several senators remain reluctant to approve another debt limit increase.
Sen. Rand Paul noted that he opposed last year’s bill because it raised the limit by $5 trillion, while Sen. Rick Scott said he preferred balancing the federal budget. Sen. Thom Tillis said he likely would not support a debt limit provision without assurances of fiscal responsibility.
Some Republicans doubt party leaders can deliver any package after an earlier attempt fizzled in August. “I’ve been hearing since God was a baby that we’re working on a plan for a reconciliation bill,” Sen. John Kennedy said. “Have you seen one? I haven’t seen one.”
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