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John:
Good Morning from Capitol Hill.
As President Trump said in his Veterans Day speech, “From the moment our Nation’s Founders raised the cause of independence, they recognized that freedom rests upon those willing to defend it.” We wouldn’t be able to look forward to celebrating our nation’s 250th birthday, if it were not for all the sacrifices our nation's veterans have made. So to those of you who have served this great nation, thank you.
The House and Senate were both back in session this week after 43 days of a government shutdown - the longest in our nation’s history. The Senate first passed the bill in the evening of November 10th, sending the bill to the House. This legislation includes final FY 2026 funding for Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Legislative Branch activities. It also includes a Continuing Resolution (CR) through January 30th for the rest of government and provides backpay for federal workers. The House then took up the bill and passed it on a bipartisan basis on Wednesday, November 12.
There is an interesting dynamic playing out amongst the liberals in the House and Senate. As you might recall, Senator Schumer committed the original sin by joining his other liberal colleagues in voting for the CR in March that kept the government open. The liberal outrage to this became the controlling posture for him. Even despite not voting for the final passage of the bill that became law, Majority Leader Schumer is taking flack from the liberals in the House of Representatives who say he’s unfit for the moment and cannot keep his caucus together.
Then came the end of September where liberals drew a line in the sand over temporary Obamacare enhanced tax credits. The tax credits, entirely supported by liberals in the House and Senate, were used to further subsidize Obamacare during covid. Turns out, these temporary credits also have a litany of issues associated with them, including funding abortions, transgender surgeries, and funding healthcare for illegal aliens.
At first liberals blamed the shutdown on conservatives and the administration and said it was not about leverage to extract a win on Obamacare subsides. They then changed their tune and said it was in fact about that, and a shutdown is a way to force leverage on their issue.
At the start of the shutdown, Russ Vought, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced, on behalf of the President, that Reductions in Force (known as a “RIF” - a way to directly fire career bureaucrats) would begin. This increased the administration’s leverage, and realized many liberals' fears that through the tools at OMB, President Trump could start cutting spending and cutting the career workforce.
Then the Senate began voting on the CR that the House passed. The Senate voted 13 times to send the CR to the President’s desk, but each time lacked the 60 votes to get over the threshold. The administration found ways to pay the troops, veterans, and other essential functions for purposes of national security and safety of our nation, deescalating the severity of the shutdown. The posture of this administration stands in stark contrast to the posture of the Obama Administration days where Honor Flights, National Monuments and Parks were closed, and the shutdown was weaponized for maximum pressure.
A Senate deal broke through, which was nearly the same deal that Senate liberals had been offered at the beginning of the shutdown, but their main ask - enhanced Obamacare tax credits - were not included. In the end, a promise to vote on them on a future date and time, was all that was yielded.
In the evening hours of November 12, the House of Representatives passed the bill, amended by the Senate, and sent to President Trump’s desk for signature. President Trump signed the bill to reopen the government, satisfying many of the concerns, including the growing number of flights being cancelled with the upcoming Thanksgiving break.
What’s next? A busy week ahead of the Thanksgiving break, and 11 weeks before the next CR fight.
ICYMI…
Sincerely,
Hugh Fike
Senior Director, CP Academy
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