Senate sends debt limit bill to Biden
Lawmakers already talking about extra spending
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for June 2, 2023:
Next debt limit showdown - December 2024.
Get ready for another Biden veto.
Skynet is already here.
DEBT LIMIT. Finishing well before a Monday default deadline, Senators last night voted 63 to 36 to approve a compromise plan to raise the nation's debt limit through the end of 2024, avoiding an unprecedented U.S. government default. 46 Democrats voted for the measure along with 17 Republican Senators.
AYE VOTES. "I voted to do the fiscally responsible thing," said Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ). "Defaulting on our debt would send a message to the world that we are a nation that cannot be trusted," said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS). "Defaulting on our debts is not an option," added Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT).
YES VOTES. The 17 Republicans voting for the bill were: Boozman AR, Capito WV, Collins ME, Cornyn TX, Cramer ND, Ernst IA, Grassley IA, Hoeven ND, McConnell KY, Moran KS, Mullin OK, Murkowski AK, Romney UT, Rounds SD, Thune SD, Tillis NC, and Young IN.
NO VOTES. On the other side, Democrats breaking ranks and voting against the bill were: Fetterman PA, Warren MA, Markey MA, Merkley OR, plus Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
SWITCH. Unlike the solid GOP majority in the House for the debt limit bill, Republican Senators went 31-17 against the plan. "The Senate has passed a farce," said Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT). "This debt limit bill does not significantly change the direction of federal spending," said Sen. James Lankford (R-OK).
SPENDING. Even before the Senate voted, there was already an effort to figure out how to get around spending caps in the bill for the Pentagon. "If you believe that the number one job of the federal government is to defend this nation, then we have made a serious mistake in this bill," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
TALKS. Graham huddled during the day with Sen. Krysten Sinema (I-AZ) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who called the $886 billion Pentagon funding limit for 2024 'totally inadequate,' 'woefully inadequate,' and 'completely inadequate' (sort of the Holy Trinity of Inadequate).
SCHUMER. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a statement saying the Senate basically reserves the right to pass supplemental bills for defense, funding for Ukraine, natural disasters, and for other national emergencies - no matter the spending caps approved in the debt limit bill.
SAVINGS. So, how much would this plan really save? The problem is that if you are forecasting savings over a 10-year period, you have to consider that a future Congress might change the basics of your agreement along the way. That's what happened after another debt limit showdown in 2011.
REVIEW. "The Fiscal Responsibility Act would represent the largest deficit reduction package in almost 12 years," reported the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. That budget watchdog group estimates the savings at anywhere from $250 billion to $2.1 trillion - depending on what happens in the future.
BUDGET CONTROL ACT. Just look back to the debt limit crisis of 2011. What came out of that was the Budget Control Act, which set caps on spending for 10 years. But Congress couldn't live with those spending restraints.
In 2012, Congress raised the caps by $48 billion for 2013.
In 2013, Congress raised the caps by $62 billion for 2014/2015.
In 2015, Congress raised the caps by $80 billion for 2016/2017.
In 2018, Congress raised the caps by $228 billion for 2018/2019.
In 2019, Congress raised the caps by $321 billion for 2020/2021.
SPENDING. In other words, it won’t surprise me to see the same thing happen with this agreement.
WHO WON? If there was one question I've been asked a lot this week, it was which side came out on top in the debt limit fight. Was it the GOP and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy? Or was it President Biden and Democrats? They negotiated a compromise, and so I think you have to say both of them scored points.
MCCARTHY. With the Freedom Caucus ready to push him off the cliff, McCarthy was still able to achieve some wins, though the limited nature of spending cuts in the deal opened him to GOP criticism. Really, McCarthy probably did about as well as he could.
PRESS. I thought McCarthy excelled at his press conferences, where he hammered home a concise message. Notably, McCarthy did not engage in his usual petty personal comments to reporters.
EXPECTATIONS. I'm still puzzled that many Democrats thought McCarthy would flounder. McCarthy isn't Sam Rayburn or anything, but Democrats seemed to wrongly underestimate his legislative abilities.
BIDEN. Joe Biden is a creature of the Senate, which means he excels at negotiation. His delay in starting talks with McCarthy was not a winner in the news media, but Biden clearly was able to fend off the GOP push for significant spending cuts and other policy changes.
VOTES. One bad thing for McCarthy was more Democrats voting for the package than GOP lawmakers. "Republicans didn’t win despite what House Leadership says," said Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ). "We got hosed."
CONSERVATIVES. As for Biggs and other members of the Freedom Caucus, frankly - they looked isolated. While they are very effective at getting attention, that group still doesn’t legislate or negotiate effectively.
REGULAR ORDER. Help me spread the word about my Congressional newsletter. Buy yourself a subscription, give someone the gift of straight news, and support independent journalism in the halls of Congress! Or you can always just buy me a drink. And let’s be honest, I need a few after this past week.
STUDENT LOANS. Before acting on the debt limit bill, the Senate voted 52-46 to repeal President Biden's student loan forgiveness program. That measure now goes to the White House, where it is expected to face a Biden veto. Backers don't have the votes to override.
SCOTUS. Really, this was the just political warmup for what many expect could be a much rougher reception from the U.S. Supreme Court. The Justices are expected to rule later this month on a lawsuit which seeks to overturn the Biden student loan program.
AI THREAT. Some of you may have seen the 'Terminator' movies, where an artificial intelligence system known as Skynet turns against humans, ultimately launching nuclear weapons. It can't happen, everyone always says about AI. Or, maybe it can, judging from a presentation by a U.S. military drone expert.
SYMPOSIUM. A recent defense conference in London heard a story from a U.S. Air Force Colonel, where an AI-enabled drone had been taught in a simulation to attack enemy sites. But when the human operator decided against some of the missions, the AI drone then attacked - the operator. Read more.
SKYNET. "It killed the operator because that person was keeping it from accomplishing its objective," said Col. Tucker Hamilton, who then described when the AI-drone was told not to kill the operator, it started destroying the communications links used by that operator.
CONGRESS. One lawmaker took immediate note. "The below Skynet scenario is chilling, where AI turns against its human creator," tweeted Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA). Lieu has a bill on Capitol Hill that would prevent AI operational control of America's nuclear weapons.
GAS STOVES. Republicans have served notice that the House will vote next week on a bill to protect gas stoves. The “Save Our Stoves Act” stops the Energy Department from implementing new energy conservation rules dealing with gas stoves, which were proposed earlier this year by the Biden Administration.
BILL. "President Biden’s Department of Energy is attempting to implement an extreme regulation that would effectively ban gas stoves,” said Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ). “This is just an attempt by the Department of Energy to institute government control in every aspect of Americans’ lives."
AMENDMENTS. As with all bills, lawmakers can file amendments, and Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) - who has repeatedly mocked Republicans about their concerns over gas stoves - has done exactly that.
SACEUR. One plan gives the bill the title of the ‘Appliance Bill of Rights.’ Another is even more tongue in cheek. "There is established a czar position within the Department of Energy called "Supreme Allied Gas Commander" for the sole purpose of policing the use and sale of gas stoves."
JANUARY 6. Stumping for votes in Iowa on Thursday, former President Donald Trump continued his attacks on the U.S. Capitol Police officer who shot and killed a woman just off the U.S. House floor on January 6. "They shot Ashli Babbitt for no reason," Trump said in Des Moines.
BABBITT. If you need a refresher on why Babbitt was shot and killed, you can watch the video of the incident, which took place as rioters were trying to break into the lobby just off the House floor, where lawmakers were being evacuated.
BACK THE BLUE. "It was a thug who shot her," Trump said of the Capitol Hill cop who was protecting the Speaker's Lobby that day. "Everywhere I go, somebody brings up the whole (January 6) situation," Trump said, as he has pledged to issue pardons to many of those convicted.
CAPITOL. Every day when I walk past the spot where Babbitt was killed, or where rioters broke windows to get in the Capitol - all I can think about is that those people were not here to petition their government. They were here to violently keep Trump in office. Don’t ever forget that.
RAP SHEET. A former FBI agent has been indicted on charges related to his actions on Jan. 6. Jared Wise of Oregon faces charges including disorderly conduct, as he egged on other rioters attacking police outside the Capitol. "Kill 'em! Kill 'em!" Wise shouted, as he called police officers Nazis. "You are the Gestapo," he said at one point.
MUSE OF HISTORY. June 2, 1924. On this date, President Coolidge signed into law the Indian Citizenship Act, which granted citizenship to any Native American born in the United States. Named after Rep. Homer Snyder of New York, it was estimated the new law granted over 200,000 people official U.S. citizenship. The bill was approved without extended debate in either the House or Senate - but it still stirs controversy today. For example, the Onondaga Nation 'have never accepted the authority of the United States' to make their members U.S. citizens.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House has votes next week.
The Senate returns on Tuesday.
President Biden’s daily schedule link.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree. Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
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It’s ironic that 45 is now using Ashli Babbitt in an Iowa stump speech for re-election. If one person is responsible for that brainwashed deluded person being in DC and illegally going through that window and consequently being killed on Jan. 6, it’s Donald J Trump.
The normalization of things like January 6 is mind blowing to me. The fact that there are elected politicians that agree with what happened that day, to the point of supporting those who did it, reminds me that it’s not impossible for us to lose the voice in the government we currently have.