Democrats Call for Immediate Negotiations to Stave Off Shutdown

The clock is ticking down until appropriations across federal government lapse, and House Democrats want to get the ball rolling on finding a solution to avoid a government shutdown.

Agencies are only currently funded through September, and with Congress set to recess for the entire month of August, there are very few legislative days left to negotiate and vote on a funding bill. Already, lawmakers are pessimistic Congress can move forward without a temporary provision to maintain the status quo on agency spending that would freeze any new projects.

“In my conversations with many of the Republicans who have worked very hard on the these appropriations bills -- I know they would prefer to have bills,” Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, said at a press conference Tuesday. “But it may not be possible so we may have to have a continuing resolution.”

The Republican-led House has passed several of the 12 requisite appropriations bills for fiscal 2016, but those appear to be non-starters, as President Obama has threatened to veto any spending measure that does not reverse the cuts required by the 2011 Budget Control Act. Even that largely-for-show process has hit a standstill as Republicans decide how to proceed with a rider on the display of confederate flags at national parks.

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said Republicans have treated non-Defense discretionary spending as a “pot to be raided” rather than a critical investment. The two parties must work together to find a realistic solution to the pending fiscal crisis.

“We have 17 [legislative] days left before the end of the fiscal year so it’s time for negotiations that prevent a government shutdown,” Lee said.

Lowey called on House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to appoint a bipartisan commission to negotiate an agreement to fund agencies past September. A similar group -- consisting of Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. -- was able to stave off sequestration in 2014 and 2015 through a series of alternate savings agreed to in 2013.

“McConnell and Boehner need to say ‘it’s time to get real,’ ” Lowey said.

Representing NDD United, a group advocating against non-Defense discretionary budget cuts, Joel Packer said the impact of the Republican spending plan would be devastating. The Education Department, he noted, would undergo the largest spending cut in its history -- even more dramatic than the cuts it faced in 2013 when sequestration went into effect.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., ranking member of the House Budget Committee, called the Republican budget “unworkable” and said he is hoping the party is “waking up” to that fact.

“We have put out a plan,” Van Hollen said, referring to Obama’s budget proposal. “We just need them to negotiate.”