Leubsdorf: New year to have old fight: Congress avoided shutdown, but didn’t solve big issues

Johnson and a majority of House Republicans accepted Democratic support to pass the kind of bipartisan interim spending measure that led to the downfall of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, rather than risk a shutdown six days before Thanksgiving. Nearly 100 GOP conservatives opposed the measure – but made no move to oust Johnson.

“Everybody gets a mulligan,” explained Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who led the fight to overthrow McCarthy.

The bill extends federal spending at the current rate. It not only delays a showdown over GOP demands for stiff cuts until sometime early next year but creates the possibility of not just one but two such battles. That’s because the measure passed by Congress sets up two different expiration dates, one Jan. 19 for about 20 percent of the government and a second one Feb. 2 for the rest, including the Pentagon.

And it bypasses another issue that has already created a three-way confrontation among the Democrats who hold the White House and the Senate, the Republicans who hold the House and the Senate GOP minority: aid to Ukraine.

It does not include any of the $106 billion that President Joe Biden requested for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and the border. That still must be resolved, and there is no agreement on how to do so.

House Republicans voted funds for Israel – but not for Ukraine. Senate Republicans, who hold leverage because of the need for 60 votes to pass anything, want funds for both – but also a package of measures to strengthen border enforcement against illegal entrants. And most Democrats prefer just the original Biden proposal.

The reason the so-called continuing resolution was necessary is because, despite partisan promises, Congress has again not passed any of the 12 appropriations bills to fund the federal government for the year that started Oct. 1. The House passed seven, all by narrow party-line votes. The Senate passed three, by an overwhelming bipartisan majority.

There are major differences: The House bills cut funds below the spending levels that McCarthy and Biden agreed to in May to extend the federal debt ceiling and prevent a governmental financial default. The Senate bills largely accept those levels.

The delay is designed to give lawmakers more time to pass the 12 appropriations bills. But the differences between House and Senate versions are so great it probably won’t happen on most of them.

One benefit of putting off the next spending deadline to next year is to provide time between Thanksgiving and Christmas for lawmakers to negotiate a separate bill providing aid for Israel, Ukraine and the border.

A bipartisan Senate group has been working for months on a package that would force the Biden administration to take stiffer measures to control the continuing flood of illegal immigrants. It’s unclear at this point if they can reach an agreement.

One possible scenario involves attaching those measures – the Ukraine and Israel aid and the border package — to the “must-pass” bill that sets Pentagon priorities for the year. Separate versions have been passed by the two chambers, making it a possible legislative vehicle.

Meanwhile, overhanging the entire process is a provision in last spring’s debt ceiling bill that would require additional spending cuts if lawmakers fail to pass the regular appropriations bills.

Some senators – mostly Republicans — worry that would cut defense spending to unsafe levels. But many House Republicans would be happy if no agreements were ever reached – and the steeper spending cuts took effect.