By Kristina Peterson and Stephanie Armour
WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers hustled Monday to resolve policy
disputes holding up an agreement on a sweeping spending bill needed
to keep the government funded beyond Friday.
Disagreements over health-care policy, immigration and funding
for a New York rail tunnel project persisted as Democrats,
Republicans and the White House negotiated the measure that would
keep the government open until October and prevent a partial
shutdown when its current funding expires at 12:01 a.m.
Saturday.
Congress and President Donald Trump had already agreed to the
overall spending levels last month, as part of a two-year budget
deal, and senior lawmakers were confident it would pass before
week's end.
As part of the budget deal, the bill will boost defense spending
by $80 billion this fiscal year over spending limits set in 2011,
although Congress has regularly agreed to lift federal funding
since then. Domestic spending would get a $63 billion increase.
A bipartisan congressional effort to shore up the Affordable
Care Act was likely to be excluded from the bill, House Speaker
Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) told House Republicans Monday evening,
although Senate Republicans had been pushing late Monday to get it
in the legislation.
Sens. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) and Susan Collins (R., Maine)
had hoped to include a plan from Mr. Alexander and Sen. Patty
Murray (D., Wash.) to restore payments to insurers that offset
their costs for providing mandatory subsidies to some low-income
consumers on the ACA. Mr. Trump ended those payments last year, and
many insurers raised premiums as a result. That meant people who
don't get federal assistance to help with premiums saw their costs
rise, in some cases by double digits.
The health-care package also would have provided money to states
for reinsurance, which help cover high-cost insurer claims as a way
to reduce overall premiums. And it would have given states greater
flexibility with waivers on how they implement the ACA. Its
omission would deal a major blow to insurers and could further
imperil the ailing health law's markets.
Democrats objected to a requirement from Republicans that would
have only allowed subsidies to go to insurers that don't provide
any coverage for abortions. Current law prevents federal funding
from covering abortions, but doesn't stop insurers from providing
separate coverage for them.
In an unusual move, Republicans publicly released their proposal
Monday afternoon, criticizing Democrats for blocking it over the
abortion restrictions.
"What we've come up with is not going to be a major change in
policy in any way," said Ms. Collins, pointing to her voting record
in support of abortion rights.
But Democrats said the proposal expanded abortion restrictions
in ways they couldn't support. "I'm not going to do anything that
appears to further retreat from our commitment to choice," said
Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.), who added that he would vote against
the bill if that restriction was included.
A partisan impasse also looked likely to block any extension of
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Mr.
Trump ended the program, which shields young undocumented
immigrants from deportation, in September and gave Congress until
early March to pass a replacement.
On Sunday, the White House proposed extending the program for
those enrolled in it now for 2 1/2 years if paired with $25 billion
to build a wall along the border with Mexico. Democrats were
willing to support the $25 billion for the border wall, but wanted
the agreement to include a path to citizenship, and wanted it to
cover both those in the DACA program now and those eligible under
its rules, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.
The White House objected, leaving the issue at an impasse.
Federal judges have blocked the administration from winding down
the DACA program for now, easing pressure on lawmakers to reach an
immediate deal.
The Democrats' proposal found some support in conservative
circles. Three political groups funded by the billionaire brothers
Charles and David Koch issued statements in support of a border
security for citizenship trade that Democrats proposed.
"That's an offer all parties should immediately accept," said
Brent Gardner, chief government affairs officer for Americans for
Prosperity. Supportive statements also came from Koch-backed
Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce and the Libre Initiative. The
Libre Initiative is also funding digital advertising campaign
urging action on the Dreamer issue as part of the omnibus spending
deal.
Lawmakers were still negotiating Monday over funding levels for
the Homeland Security Department and how they should be allocated.
Rep. John Carter (R., Texas), chairman of the House Appropriations
Homeland Security subcommittee, said he was pushing for $1.6
billion for the border wall, but that remained under discussion
Monday night.
Lawmakers said Monday night that no deal had been struck yet
over whether the spending bill should include $900 million in
funding for a tunnel under the Hudson River.
Advocates have said the tunnel is needed to strengthen commuter
rail service on the heavily traveled northeast corridor. Mr. Trump
has threatened to veto the bill over the funds and administration
officials have said it is the type of project that they would ask
states and cities to fund themselves.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R., Texas) said he was hopeful
the spending bill would include a measure he has championed to
strengthen compliance with the National Instant Criminal Background
Check System, or NICS. The "Fix NICS" bill is supported by 73
senators, but has some GOP opposition. Democrats have also pushed
to hold votes on other gun-related legislation.
"I just can't imagine why it wouldn't be [included] unless
people are being just stubborn," Mr. Cornyn said Monday
afternoon.
Lawmakers and aides had hoped to unveil the spending bill late
Monday night, setting up a vote in the House on Wednesday and in
the Senate, later in the week.
That compressed time frame could pose problems in the Senate,
where any one senator can prevent the chamber from speeding up its
time-consuming procedures, as Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) did last
month, triggering a brief government shutdown. It wasn't clear
Monday whether Mr. Paul might act similarly this week.
--Natalie Andrews and Laura Meckler contributed to this
article.
Write to Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com and
Stephanie Armour at stephanie.armour@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 19, 2018 20:38 ET (00:38 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.