Senators eye passage of three-bill bundle for ‘minibus' funding package

Politico

2 days ago

Senate leaders are considering tying together three funding bills into the 'minibus' package they are working to pass before gaveling out for August recess, leaving out funding for congressional operations.
Senators are currently running traps on the latest iteration of the legislative package as they look for another potential path to passing at least some funding bills before leaving town until September. On Thursday, Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) filed the latest version of the bill, which would jettison funding for the legislative branch until a later date.
The chamber's leaders will need agreement from all 100 senators in order to quickly vote on the package next week, and it's possible they will have to go back to the drawing board again if they run into objections.
The measures in the mix would fund the departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Commerce and Justice, along with federal science programs, the FDA and military construction projects. Several independent agencies that handle economic and trade policy are also funded in those bills, along with NASA and the FBI.
With less than 10 weeks until the Sept. 30 government shutdown cliff, Senate leaders from both parties are embracing bipartisan negotiations on the dozen funding measures that keep federal cash flowing each year. But Democrats warn that House Republicans' moves to pass funding bills with partisan policies and deep budget cuts raise the risk of a funding lapse come Oct. 1.
For the funding package Senate leaders are working to advance, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) is the lawmaker objecting to including cash for congressional operations. While Senate appropriators voted 26-1 to send the measure to the floor this month, Kennedy was the panel's lone 'no' vote and argues that senators are trying to spend too much money in the $7.1 billion measure to fund the functions of Congress and its support agencies.
Kennedy said in an interview Thursday that Senate leaders had talked to him a 'little bit' about his concerns but hadn't yet found a way to resolve it. POLITICO first reported earlier this week that the Louisiana Republican was objecting to the bill's inclusion in the larger package.
'I want to vote against it for reasons I've articulated,' Kennedy said. 'And if they can figure out a way to do that, I'll release my hold. But so far they haven't.'
Kennedy said he wouldn't settle for holding a separate vote on adding the legislative branch bill to the minibus, which would let him vote in opposition to the standalone measure but still allow the measure to be folded into the larger vehicle. That approach would be 'flim-flam' and a 'rinkydoo,' he said.
The possibility that Senate leaders would have to drop the legislative branch bill is a U–turn from what was expected to be their biggest headache: the bill to fund the Justice Department and FBI. But Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said in a brief interview Thursday that he was 'hopeful' this measure would be included.
Meanwhile, underscoring how in flux the Senate's negotiations have been, Collins' amendment on Thursday was the third she has filed to tee up consideration of appropriations bills next week. Collins has already offered one amendment that would not include the Justice Department funding bill in the spending package, and another that would include all four bills.