Democrats Balk at Trump Funding Offer; What’s in the Senate Bill
Lawmakers have returned from the holiday weekend without much progress on ending the partial government shutdown, now in its 32nd day. President Donald Trump is offering protections for DACA immigrants, in exchange for wall funding and asylum limits on Central American minors, a proposal Democrats said they’ll reject. Meanwhile, furloughed workers are about to miss their second paycheck.
Here’s what Bloomberg Government is tracking so far today.
Asylum Limits in Bill to End Shutdown Anger Democrats
Trump and Senate Republicans have inserted in their plan to end the shutdown a provision to set new asylum limits for Central American minors, making it harder to find enough Democratic backers for the bill to pass. The Senate bill introduced yesterday, modeled on Trump’s Saturday proposal to end the shutdown, is under attack from immigration activists and Democrats who said they expect to be able to block it from advancing.
“This is not a proposed compromise,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) today. “This is a Stephen Miller bill,” Schatz said, referring to Trump’s adviser and immigration hardliner. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Trump didn’t consult Democrats on his proposal and that his “partisan” plan can’t pass the Senate or the House. Trump’s proposal was not made in good faith and is “one-sided,” Schumer said in opening floor comments.
The 1,301-page legislation includes a provision to ban nationals from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras who are under 18 years old from eligibility for asylum unless they submit applications at a processing center in Central America. That’ll mean they cannot apply to the U.S. if they flee their home countries due to gang violence, as many have done, Sahil Kapur reports.
Read more: DACA, Asylum Restrictions Would Tighten Under Trump’s Proposal
The Senate Republican legislation includes seven appropriations bills that would end the shutdown, as well as $12.7 billion in disaster relief that was added in an effort to sway support from Democrats. Democrats have said prior to its release that they won’t support the measure, Jack Fitzpatrick reports. But the Senate will vote on the measurelater this week, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said today, saying Trump’s proposal could “break through this stalemate.”
Bloomberg Government’s legislative analysts take a closer look at the individual bills in the Senate package:
- Senate Homeland Security Bill
- Disaster Aid in Senate Spending Bill
- DACA, Asylum in Senate Spending Bill
- BGOV BIll Summary: House Spending Package
The Senate bill also carries provisional three-year work permits for young undocumented people currently enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and those who have Temporary Protected Status. Trump has sought to end those programs. The new legislation would only apply the extension to those currently receiving protections, not those who could be eligible to qualify, as would be allowed under a bipartisan proposal called “the Bridge Act.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hasn’t taken any action yet on a challenge to the Trump administration’s ending of DACA, which has so far only been kept alive in the past year due to a handful of federal court orders. And with no action by the Supreme Court likely until at least the fall, their orders will stay in place for most if not all of 2019. Laura D. Francis has more.
Furloughed Workers Can’t Get Reimbursed: As if going without pay during the shutdown wasn’t enough, thousands of federal workers are dealing with another financial indignity: servicing debts over government-issued credit cards. They are receiving credit card bills—for which the employees are personally responsible—for work-related expenses they’d incurred before the shutdown started, but can’t get reimbursed because their agencies are mostly closed.
JPMorgan Chase, one of several companies issuing government credit cards, will shield employees from downgrades to their credit scores for late payments, said spokesman Thomas Kelly. That’s consistent with an agreement issuers have with the government, but it hasn’t eliminated the concerns. Alan Levin has more.
How Shutdown Is Rippling Down to States: Almost a third of the $2 trillion that U.S. states spend every year comes from Washington, so a record-long shutdown of the federal government may spell major financial trouble in the U.S. states. So far, the impact has been relatively limited, with only a quarter of the government closed. But the impact for states and local governments will escalate the longer it drags on. Amanda Albright, Danielle Moran, and Martin Braun explore how, from safety nets and local jails to transportation and bond markets.
Commodity Producers Suffer: It’s a rough start to 2019 for producers of farm commodities: trade bailout payments aren’t going out, new loans aren’t getting processed, and an Agriculture Department promise of implementing new dairy provisions is stalled. The USDA has been making some efforts to assist farmers during the shutdown, like extending the sign up period for the trade mitigation program and reopening local Farm Service Agency offices to process loans. But some commodities groups said it isn’t enough. Read more from Teaganne Finn.
Meanwhile, the USDA is recalling more than 9,700 Farm Service Agency employees to perform certain services for farmers and ranchers, Teaganne Finn reports.
Newark Among Airports With Longest Holiday Wait Times: The U.S.’s airport security force continues struggling to find enough workers, creating longer-than-normal wait times at some of the busiest airports over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. Transportation Security Administration staffers screened over 2.18 million people yesterday, the end of the holiday weekend, and four airports had wait times that exceeded 30 minutes, according to the TSA. Airports such as Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Newark, Seattle and Baltimore had repeated issues over the weekend. Yesterday, 7.5 percent of TSA’s screeners didn’t show up for work, the agency said in a release, down from its 10 percent absentee rate on Sunday, but well above norms, and continuing to increase on average, Alan Levin reports.
Growing IRS Backlog: Tax practitioners are becoming increasingly alarmed at a growing backlog of work at the IRS. The agency is continuing to assure taxpayers that in spite of the shutdown, the 2019 tax filing season will start on time Jan. 28 But with about two of every five agency employees furloughed, practitioners are skeptical about how an historically understaffed and underfunded agency will be able to keep pace as work continues to pile up. Robert Lee has more.
Happening on the Hill
Efforts to re-open the government will dominate much of Congress’ agenda this week, but there is other business in both chambers. Read BGOV’s This Week in Congress for a full preview of what to watch in the next few days.
Adam Schank and Michael Smallberg from the Bloomberg Government legislative analyst team discuss the congressional agenda on this week’s episode of “Suspending the Rules.” Listen here.
Azar to Skip Family Separation Hearing: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar declined an invitation to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said, calling his denial “unacceptable.” Azar’s office told the committee he would not be available for the hearing on the agency’s role in caring for migrant children separated from their parents for entering the country illegally, a committee spokesman said in an email. “We are going to get him here at some point one way or another,” Pallone said in a statement. Read more from Alex Ruoff.
Meanwhile, lawyers who are suing to speed up the reunification of the detained migrant children with their relatives are moving to bolster their case with a 2017 draft memorandum, purporting to show that the federal government separated the families to deter illegal border crossings. The memo recommended targeting parents because it would be reported by the media and “would have substantial deterrent effect.” The document, leaked last week to Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) also advocated putting the parents in detention, while keeping children in federal custody. Andrew Harris has more.
Ross to Testify on Citizenship Question: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will face questioning by the House Oversight and Reform Committee about the decision to add a citizenship question onto the next census, becoming one of the first members of Trump’s cabinet called to testify, now that Democrats are in charge of the panel. Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said today that Ross has agreed to testify March 14, and he will be queried over what Democrats say was Ross’s misleading past testimony about why the citizenship question was added to the 2020 Census. Read more from Joe Sobczyk.
Also, the Trump administration said it’s appealing to the Supreme Court over the citizenship question, promising to file a quick appeal in the hope of resolving the issue in time to start printing questionnaires in June. Read more from Greg Stohr.
House Democrats to Renew Infrastructure Push: House Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (D-Va.) is renewing his effort to spend more on school infrastructure. “It’s hard to educate people in schools that are crumbling,” said Scott, who unveiled a $100 billion school infrastructure bill in 2017 that was co-sponsored by 119 House Democrats but was stalled in the Republican House. “In a lot of areas that’s unfortunately what’s happening.”
Infrastructure is also a key priority for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). They’ll need to persuade Republicans who traditionally view school buildings as a responsibility for state and local governments. The federal government currently spends money to fix schools only in cases of disasters. That has states and localities pouring billions of dollars on repairing buildings each year, about $46 billion short of the needs, according to a 2016 “State of Our Schools” study. Emily Wilkins has more on the status of school infrastructure and Democratic priorities.
Senate Passes Welfare Extension: The Senate by a voice vote passed a bill (H.R. 430) to extend the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant through June 30. The House passed the measure on Jan. 14. It now heads to Trump for his signature. Read the BGOV Bill Summary by Danielle Parnass.
Warren Probes if Trump Withheld Puerto Rico Relief: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is seeking records on whether Trump is using the shutdown as an excuse to withhold aid to Puerto Rico. Warren, in a letter to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget and to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is requesting records to see if Trump asked his administration last September to cut off any disaster-recovery funds to Puerto Rico and if he is using the shutdown as an excuse to delay housing funds, Emma Kinery reports.
Defense, Trade, Foreign Affairs
Supreme Court Allows Transgender Military Ban: The Supreme Court cleared the Trump administration to start barring most transgender people from serving in the Armed Forces. The justices, voting 5-4, put on hold lower court rulings that had prevented the administration’s planned ban from taking effect. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.
How To Understand the Debate Over Transgender Rights: QuickTake
The court stopped short of agreeing to hear arguments on an expedited basis, as the administration sought. But by allowing the ban take effect, the court gave the administration a major victory, and hinted that the court ultimately would uphold the restrictions. Read more from Greg Stohr.
Pompeo Sends Davos Video Message: Grounded by the shutdown, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a Trump-style speech with a video to the Davos summit, defending disruptive politics, touting U.S. economic strength, and claiming foreign policy successes. “New winds are blowing across the world,” said Pompeo in the transatlantic speech to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. “The central question is this: Do they signal fair weather or foreshadow a storm?” Pompeo says. “I’d argue this disruption is a positive development.”
Related: Political Risk, U.S.-China Dominate at Davos
Pompeo had planned to attend the Davos summit, along with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, but the trips were canceled in deference to the partial shutdown. Moments before the address, Trump tweeted about his own absence. “Last time I went to Davos, the Fake News said I should not go there,” Trump said on Twitter. “This year, because of the Shutdown, I decided not to go, and the Fake News said I should be there.” Read more from Glen Carey.
Redacted Appeal in Possible Mueller Case Allowed: The Supreme Court let an unidentified foreign-owned company file a redacted appeal in a case believed to be tied to a criminal investigation conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The 38-page document released today contends that the company isn’t legally required to offer information to a grand jury or pay a $50,000 per day fine imposed by a federal trial judge for noncompliance. The company is owned by an unidentified foreign country. This dispute apparently marks the first time that the Supreme Court has been asked to intervene in the Mueller investigation.
Related: Giuliani Compounds Trump’s Russia Woes in Conflicting Interviews
The Supreme Court previously refused to block the daily fines, but the company is still pressing the court to hear an appeal. If the court were to take up the case, the justices would either have to put it on an unusual fast track or wait until the nine-month term that starts in October. A response from the government is due Feb. 21. Read more from Greg Stohr.
U.S. Urges Venezuelans to Back Opposition Leader: The White House is urging Venezuelans to turn out against authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro and rally behind opposition leader Juan Guaido in a video released a day ahead of national opposition protests aimed at overthrowing Maduro’s regime. Vice President Mike Pencecalled for Venezuelans to “make your voices heard” against Maduro, whom he called a “dictator with no legitimate claim to power.”
The video from the second-ranking official in the U.S. government gives powerful public backing for efforts to oust the Venezuelan leader, though Pence is not well known in the country. In the speech, delivered with Spanish subtitles, Pence calls Guaido, the new head of the National Assembly, “courageous,” and adds that the National Assembly is “the last vestige of democracy in your country.” Read more from Margaret Talev, Andrew Rosati and Patricia Laya.
Around the White House
Trump Presses Ahead on Jan. 29 State of the Union Address: Trump signaled he’s pressing ahead with his planned State of the Union address by requesting a walk-through of the House chamber for the Jan. 29 speech, a week after Speaker Pelosi suggested it be postponed due to the shutdown. His request was made to House officials, according to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, and it’s another escalation in his battle with Pelosi.
The House sergeant-at-arms, one of the recipients of the White House’s request this weekend, is awaiting a response from Pelosi’s office. The House would have to pass a resolution to hold the president’s State of the Union speech, which has been uncontroversial in the past. Read more from Billy House and Justin Sink.
Meanwhile, Trump is working on a rally-style speech for the State of the Union, in addition to the typical address that is given to Congress, ABC News reports, citing multiple people familiar with the planning. Trump could deliver rally speech at an event outside Washington, ABC says, and Republicans are urging the president to force Pelosi to officially disinvite him from giving the address from the House.
New Candidate for Fed Board: White House officials are considering new candidates for at least one and possibly both empty seats on the Federal Reserve Board for Trump to nominate, according to people familiar with the matter. Fed economist Nellie Liang withdrew from consideration earlier this month for one of the vacancies. Less clear is whether the White House will renominate Carnegie Mellon University economist Marvin Goodfriend. Read more from Jennifer Jacobs and Craig Torres.
Tethering Capital Gains to Inflation: A coalition of over 50 conservative groups is requesting Trump use his executive authority to index capital gains to inflation, a move that would provide a tax break to investors selling stock or real estate by adjusting the original purchase price. It’s an idea Trump previously said he would consider. The groups include Americans for Tax Reform and the Club for Growth. Read more from Kaustuv Basu.
What Else to Know
Republican Loses Bid to Be Declared Winner of Race: Mark Harris (R) has lost a legal bid to force North Carolina’s elections board to declare him as the winner of the U.S. House race for the 9th Congressional District, WRAL reports. Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway said an investigation into alleged absentee fraud has put the race on hold, WRAL reports.
Gun Transportation Rules to Get High Court Scrutiny: TheSupreme Court will consider bolstering constitutional gun rights for the first time in almost a decade, agreeing to look into a challenge to New York City’s rules that sharply limit where licensed handguns may be taken. The court said it will hear an appeal from three city handgun owners and an advocacy group that say New York City has the most extreme firearm-transportation restrictions in the country.
The court is expected to hear arguments in its next term starting in October. The case may demonstrate the impact of the newest justice, Brett Kavanaugh, whose appellate court record suggests he’ll be a more aggressive enforcer of gun rights than the justice he replaced, Anthony Kennedy. Read more from Greg Stohr.
Education Dept. General Counsel Leaving: The Education Department General Counsel, Carlos Muñiz, will be leaving the position after being named to Florida’s Supreme Court by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Emily Wilkins reports. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos praised Muñiz on Twitter, calling him a “reliable friend of America’s students by implementing the law as it is written & providing trusted, principled counsel.” Muñiz has served as the general counsel since April 2018.
Partial Days for Disabled Students: National civil rights groups sued Oregon for failing to address school districts that limit the amount of time that students with disabilities are in class to a fraction of the school day. While their case focuses on Oregon, the issue is widespread across the country. This case is the first test of a 2017 Supreme Court decision holding schools responsible for providing students with disabilities an education that lets them to reach their potentials. Read more from Emily Wilkins.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brandon Lee in Washington at blee@bgov.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Zachary Sherwood at zsherwood@bgov.com
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