Congress, White House Face Year-End Deadlines

Summary

The NPR Politics Podcast: Congress, White House Face Year-End Deadlines – Detailed Summary

Release Date: December 18, 2024

In the episode titled "Congress, White House Face Year-End Deadlines," NPR’s political analysts delve into the intense political maneuvering occurring in Washington as both Congress and the Biden administration strive to meet critical year-end objectives before transitions in leadership. Hosted by Sarah McCammon, with insights from Deirdre Walsh covering Congress and Tamara Keith focusing on the White House, the discussion provides a comprehensive overview of the current political landscape, key legislative battles, and the strategic priorities of both parties as they navigate the final weeks of the year.

1. Congressional Funding Bill Negotiations

Deirdre Walsh begins by outlining the urgent efforts within Congress to pass a short-term funding bill to prevent a government shutdown. As the federal government faces a deadline at midnight on Friday, December 18, 2024, federal agencies risk running out of funding. The proposed stopgap bill aims to extend funding at current levels through March 14, 2025. However, unlike typical temporary measures, this bill is notably expansive, encompassing a variety of additional provisions beyond mere funding.

Deirdre Walsh [01:13]: “The bill includes a pay raise for members of Congress, roughly $100 billion in federal disaster aid for states recovering from Hurricanes Milton and Helene, wildfires in Maui and on the West Coast, and restrictions on China’s ability to access US technologies.”

The inclusion of these extra elements has sparked significant debate. Tamara Keith observes that such additions are a manifestation of traditional negotiation tactics, where concessions are made to secure necessary votes. However, this approach has not sat well with all factions within the Republican Party.

Tamara Keith [02:30]: “It’s the last train out of town before a new president and a new administration and a new Congress. And so you put a couple extra cabooses on.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson finds himself at the center of this controversy. The 1,500-plus-page bill, which was unveiled the previous night, faces opposition from House conservatives who deride it as a “Christmas tree” due to its assortment of unrelated policy measures. These factions argue that the bill should solely focus on essential funding without additional policy riders.

2. External Criticism and Public Pressure

The bill has also attracted criticism from prominent outside figures. Vivek Ramaswamy voiced concerns on Twitter, labeling the bill as containing “excessive spending, special interest giveaways and pork barrel politics.”

Vivek Ramaswamy [04:15]: “I wanted to read the full 1500 page bill and speak with key leaders before forming an opinion. Having done that, here's my view. It's full of excessive spending, special interest giveaways and pork barrel politics.”

Following Ramaswamy’s critique, Elon Musk echoed the sentiment, declaring the spending bill “a crime.”

Elon Musk [04:15]: “The more I learn, the more obvious it becomes that this spending bill is a crime.”

These external pressures contribute to the challenges Congress faces in garnering unanimous support for the bill, highlighting the intricate balance between securing necessary votes and maintaining party unity.

3. White House Priorities Before Transition

Shifting focus to the executive branch, Tamara Keith discusses the Biden administration’s strategic maneuvers as it approaches its final days in office. A key priority is the appointment of federal judges, an effort aimed at shaping the judiciary for generations to come. The administration is striving to surpass former President Trump’s record in judicial confirmations, emphasizing diversity in both demographics and professional backgrounds of the nominees.

Tamara Keith [05:32]: “They are hoping to be able to break Trump's record. And already they're very proud of the fact that it's a diverse group of judges. Diverse not just in gender and race, but also many of them have been public defenders in the past instead of prosecutors.”

In addition to judicial appointments, the administration is focusing on:

• Clemency and Pardons: President Biden is expected to take action on clemency for individuals on federal death row, with advocacy groups pushing for the reduction or removal of death penalties.

• Environmental Protections: Initiatives to protect lands and waters through the establishment of new national monuments and other conservation efforts.

• Student Debt Relief: Progressing the disbursement of funds approved under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address student debt and other economic priorities.

Tamara Keith [07:07]: “He is hoping, and it really depends on what the Senate is able to get done, they are hoping to be able to break Trump's record.”

4. Implications of Funding Negotiations and Future Strategies

Deirdre Walsh adds that the failure to pass the funding bill by the deadline could lead to a temporary disruption over the weekend, though a full government shutdown is unlikely if the bill is approved by Monday. Nonetheless, the process exposes deeper strategic fractures within the Republican Party, especially as it gears up for the incoming Trump administration.

Deirdre Walsh [09:09]: “But in reality, no one wants a government shut down. There is bipartisan support to get this through.”

Looking ahead, Senate Republicans and allies of President-elect Trump are strategizing to pass major policy priorities, such as border security, energy policy, and tax cuts, potentially bypassing Democratic opposition through legislative maneuvers like the reconciliation process. Meanwhile, House Republicans face internal pressures due to a slim majority, with Speaker Mike Johnson navigating dissent from members opposed to additional spending measures within the stopgap bill.

Deirdre Walsh [10:05]: “They plan to use this process to get around a Democratic filibuster in the Senate. So they just have to pass this package with a simple majority.”

However, Tamara Keith emphasizes that Republicans entered the election with a mandate focused on executing specific promises rather than seeking bipartisan cooperation. This ideological stance suggests limited incentives for cross-party collaboration in the near term.

Tamara Keith [15:43]: “They won on a promise of making America great again. America first. Drill, baby, drill. Mass deportations. The mandate is not to find Kumbaya.”

5. Future Outlook and Potential Challenges

As the new administration prepares to take office, the Republican Party contends with the dual challenge of maintaining unity among its members while delivering on key legislative promises. The tightly held House majority exacerbates this tension, potentially limiting the party's flexibility in negotiating with Democrats.

Deirdre Walsh predicts that major legislation will likely proceed without bipartisan support, focusing instead on fulfilling campaign promises through majority-rule processes.

Deirdre Walsh [15:08]: “I do not see a lot of early efforts at bipartisan policy negotiations. Really. At all.”

The impending House majority reduction further complicates the landscape, signaling that Speaker Mike Johnson may face significant obstacles in steering legislative agendas without broader consensus. Additionally, as Tamara Keith notes, the administration’s attempts to finalize priorities before the transition may clash with the incoming administration’s ambitions, setting the stage for potential legislative gridlock in the future.

Tamara Keith [12:29]: “It will be different because Democrats will be less interested in being helpful and Republicans will have to find a way.”

Conclusion

The episode provides an insightful analysis of the high-stakes political strategies being employed by both Congress and the White House as they approach the end of the year. With funding bills on the table, judicial appointments underway, and significant policy battles looming, the interplay between party agendas and legislative pragmatism will shape the political climate in the lead-up to the next administration. NPR’s team underscores the complexity of these negotiations, emphasizing the delicate balance between fulfilling immediate fiscal responsibilities and setting the stage for future political battles.

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For those interested in the intricacies of Washington’s political maneuvers and the urgent legislative efforts shaping the nation’s future, this episode of The NPR Politics Podcast offers a comprehensive and engaging analysis.

Transcript

[Kathleen]

This is Kathleen calling from Philadelphia. I am working on a Death Star pinata for my kid's birthday party this weekend. It's going to be super hard to crack open, but it'll have one tiny weak spot on it.

[Tamara Keith]

Oh my God.

[Sarah McCammon]

This podcast is being recorded at 1:09pm Eastern Time on Wednesday, December 18, 2024.

[Kathleen]

Things may have changed by the time you hear this. Okay, here's the show.

[Sarah McCammon]

Is this a Star Wars?

[Tamara Keith]

Trek wars, not Trek Wars. And I will. This is a level of dedication that is impressive. The one time I had a Star wars birthday party for my son, I got ponies and then put up a sign that said they were tauntauns. Nice kids could get a tauntaun ride.

[Sarah McCammon]

That's so much creativity. Props to anybody that makes something instead of buying it at the party store. Hey there. It's the NPR Politics podcast. I'm Sarah McCammon. I cover politics.

[Deirdre Walsh]

I'm Deirdre Walsh. I cover Congress.

[Tamara Keith]

And I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House.

[Sarah McCammon]

Today on the podcast what Congress and the Biden administration want to get done before they leave office. Deirdre, let's start on the Hill where you spend a lot of time, especially right now. Congress is trying to get a bill to fund the government. What are some of the highlights?

[Deirdre Walsh]

Well, like they do every year, they are leaving the must pass legislation until the last possible minute and very close to the holiday season, the federal government, federal agencies are going to run out of money on Friday at midnight. So, so Congress is doing what it does best. It's kicking the can down the road. They are trying to pass a short term funding bill that keeps agencies funded at the current levels through March 14th. But this bill also has a lot of other stuff on it that is not in a typical just stopgap funding bill. The bill includes a pay raise for members of Congress. It includes roughly $100 billion in federal disaster aid for states that are recovering from Hurricanes Milton Helene, wildfires in Maui, wildfires on the west coast, money that the agency desperately needs for recovery operations. It also includes a lot of unrelated policy issues, something related to restrictions on China's ability to get access to US Technologies. These are things that traditionally do not move at the year end funding bill. But look, this was a negotiation. Republicans need Democratic votes to pass this. So they put in some things that they wanted.

[Sarah McCammon]

Yeah. So this is just about deal making. That's why this extra stuff is there.

[Tamara Keith]

Well, and it's the last train out of town before a new president and a new administration and a new Congress. And so you put a couple extra cabooses on.

[Deirdre Walsh]

But this is the same thing that now House Speaker Mike Johnson is doing that his predecessor Kevin McCarthy did that got him in trouble negotiating a stopgap spending bill that includes things that Democrats want because he needs Democrats to pass this bill. So far, this 1500 plus page bill that came out last night that they want to vote on before the end of the week and to beat that midnight Friday deadline is not going over so well with House conservatives. They don't like stopgap spending bills. They really don't like stopgap spending bills that include a bunch of other things on it. They're calling it a Christmas tree. The speaker is trying to downplay these other policies that are on it it and say, look, this is what President Elect Trump wants. He want to move this to early next year where Republicans will have control of the White House and both chambers of Congress and they can put their stamp on spending bills.

[Tamara Keith]

It's not just Republicans on the Hill who are not thrilled with this. The two men who are going to lead Doge the Department of Government Efficiency, Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, have been tweeting up a storm about this thing. Ramaswamy tweeted, I wanted to read the full 1500 page bill and speak with key leaders before forming an opinion. Having done that, here's my view. It's full of excessive spending, special interest giveaways and pork barrel politics. And then Elon Musk quotes him and says, the more I learn, the more obvious it becomes that this spending bill is a crime.

[Sarah McCammon]

I mean, are we getting a preview here, Deirdre, of sort of the new world we're entering? It's not unusual with any negotiation, right? You give something to Democrats, you risk taking off the more conservative Republicans and vice versa. But here, it's almost like members of Congress and the House speaker have to negotiate with people who aren't even in the Congress in a different way than maybe we've seen before.

[Deirdre Walsh]

I mean, it doesn't help. There's always outside public pressure when it comes to spending bills. A lot of conservatives in Congress have never voted for any stopgap spending bill. This group in the House Freedom Caucus and other conservatives were never going to vote for this bill to begin with. Now they're just piling on and I think fueling the flames of other powerful voices in the conservative media ecospace that proves their point. I think the thing that will come out of this is the bill will likely pass with a lot of Democratic votes to help get it over the line. But this won't be forgotten by conservatives who have to vote on January 3rd in the new Congress to elect the speaker of the House before Congress does anything. And House Speaker Mike Johnson is probably facing some blowback before that vote. And that's a whole other something else.

[Sarah McCammon]

The White House is trying to do, Tam, is to work with Congress to get more judges confirmed before Biden leaves office. Why is this so important to them?

[Tamara Keith]

The judiciary in many cases helps shape policy. So we know that President elect Trump wants to come in and he wants to do a lot of things through executive action, some things that it's not clear he's actually allowed to do or that the laws as they're written now would allow. And where is that going to be decided? That's going to be decided in the courts. When Trump was president, with a huge assist from Mitch McConnell, he was able to appoint and have confirmed a number of judges for federal judges to lifetime appointments for a one term president. Now he's going to get a second term. Trump kept saying, oh wow, thank you Obama for leaving me all of these vacancies that I could fill so I could set these records. While Biden's team came in and they were determined to fill as many vacancies as they possibly could because you're essentially shaping the judiciary for a gener generation. So they are hoping, and it really depends on what the Senate is able to get done, they are hoping to be able to break Trump's record. And already they're very proud of the fact that it's a diverse group of judges. Diverse not just in gender and race, but also many of them have been public defenders in the past instead of prosecutors. So it's a, it's a big number. It's a significant share of the federal bench and that is something that they are still pushing on. It's also something Trump is posting on social media about saying don't make any deals with the Democrats to allow them to push these through at the last minute.

[Sarah McCammon]

However many they push through though, I mean, Trump did succeed in really shaping the judiciary. A lot of those judges he chose all the way up to the Supreme Court were relatively young and a lot of them, most of them are still there.

[Tamara Keith]

Right.

[Sarah McCammon]

So Tam, what else is on President Biden's, dare I say, holiday wish list or his wish list before he leaves office?

[Tamara Keith]

Yeah, and I don't know how much is actually going to happen over the holiday period, but certainly getting into January, he is expected to take more action on clemency and pardons. We don't know exactly what he'll do. They are still working through that. He's under a fair bit of pressure from advocates to give clemency to the 40 people who are on the federal death row now, not letting them out of prison, but reducing their sentences to remove the death penalty. He also is expected they're working on plans to do more to protect lands and waters. So that means more national monuments and other things like that that are relatively hard to reverse. Though Trump came in and shrunk some monuments down to just like a very tiny little speck, and he could potentially do that again. And they're also still working on student debt relief and significantly just pushing out all the money that has already been approved by Congress. So in the inflation Reduction act, the chips and sciences, the bipartisan infrastructure law, all these things that passed in the first two years of the Biden administration, they are trying to get all of that money out the door. So in theory, it can't be clawed back.

[Deirdre Walsh]

Well, and they're hoping to move fast on that because Republicans are already making plans to claw back as much of the IRA money as as they can to help fund some of their priorities early next year.

[Sarah McCammon]

Okay, it's time for a break. We'll have more in just a moment. And we're back. So, Deirdre, we've been talking about all the negotiations around this funding bill. What happens if they can't get it through?

[Deirdre Walsh]

Well, they have till midnight on Friday. It could spill into the weekend if they're still wrangling some votes. And most government agencies acknowledge that a weekend disruption in funding would not be very significant. As long as they can get it done before Monday, then there wouldn't be any sort of shutdown impact. If they can't get the votes, we could see them sort of go back to the drawing board. But in reality, no one wants a government shut down. There is bipartisan support to get this through. Democrats have reasons to support the package. Republicans want to clear the decks and at least come back at the spending issue early next year. So I don't think we're in that spot. But, you know, it's a good question, Sarah, because in this Congress, you never say never.

[Sarah McCammon]

All right. So this bill that's being debated right now also sets up another fight for the future, but that one would be with a different Congress and, of course, a different president. What might that mean?

[Deirdre Walsh]

So Republicans largely agree that they want to pass major policy priorities that they Campaigned on President Elect Trump campaigned on border security. Energy policy and tax cuts are really the three main buckets of things they want to do. They plan to use this process to get around a Democratic filibuster in the Senate. So they just have to pass this package with a simple majority. And Republicans will have a 53 seat majority in January. So that allows them to put all kinds of things in this package that they can get their members to push through without Democrats. There is a difference of opinion about the strategy on doing this. Senate Republicans and some of the Trump transition allies, like Stephen Miller, who is an incoming top White House official, who's a former Senate aide, they want to focus on something that they can do quickly, show that they can get a win. Border security and energy policy, possibly clawing back some of the Inflation Reduction act energy provisions to pay for some of the domestic energy production provisions that Republicans have been talking about for years. But House Republicans are saying, wait, we really need to extend the Trump tax cuts. They are going to expire at the end of 2025 if Congress does nothing. And they worry that kicking the can to a second package or later in the year risks getting those through. And we see what Speaker Mike Johnson is dealing with now. He will have a even skinnier House majority starting in January, as small as two seats, because a couple of House Republicans who got reelected or are planning to resign and enter Trump's cab. So I think there is a real worry that unless you put all this stuff in one package and push it through early, the fights about how to do tax policy, which we saw during Trump's first term in office, could risk this not getting done. And I think that that is an unresolved strategy conversation that the President elect has not weighed into yet. But my guess is Senate Republicans have the argument that he likes to hear, which is like, let's get the big win early. And I think that that's probably where this will end up.

[Sarah McCammon]

I mean, Trump hasn't weighed in, but arguably, Tam, he doesn't want to spend the first few weeks of his term just doing the basic work of government trying to keep it open.

[Tamara Keith]

Yeah, I mean, it is very easy for a president and a presidency to get bogged down in government funding fights. It is counter to what he wants to do, which is to come in with a bang. And, you know, you never have more momentum as a president than like, right after your inauguration when you haven't spent any or much of your political capital. And when you can say, I won, I won a majority. This is What I want, let's make it happen. That sort of wears out over time. In fact, having a, let's say this continuing resolution passes as we expect, and then it expires in mid March, that doesn't give him and the new Congress a lot of time to do other things before they are once again mired in a funding fight. And it will be different because Democrats will be less interested in being helpful and Republicans will have to find a way. Some who have literally never supported a funding bill, they will have to find a way to, in theory, support a funding bill.

[Deirdre Walsh]

Well, you also have these two big priorities of Trump's colliding, Right. You have this early package that they want to push on energy and border security colliding with a possible threat to shut down the government just to pass, like, the annual spending bills. Trump doesn't want to have that distraction. So I think that's the risk of doing this kick the can approach that Republican leadership agreed to this time. I also think that this is a very different Republican controlled Congress than the one that Trump had when he took office in 2017. This is his party now. You know, leaders are eagerly going down to Mar a Lago to visit with him, meeting up with him at the Army Navy game, sitting with him to talk about plans. So I think that there is going to be a lot of pressure for party unity. I think it's going to be a little risky for Republicans to defect, but we've already seen some pretty definitive statements from Republicans who are saying already, I'm not gonna vote for any tax bill that adds to the deficit. So that is already an issue that House Speaker Mike Johnson and incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune are gonna have to deal with.

[Sarah McCammon]

Yeah, I mean, just to go back to a couple points you've both just made, in many ways, Trump and his party have been taking a victory lap. They won Congress, they won the presidency. As you said, Deirdre, this is very much Trump's party. Now, at the same time, it's going to be a tight, tight majority in the House. Is it going to be possible? It seems like there will be incentives for Republicans to work with Democrats. Do we think that's going to happen?

[Deirdre Walsh]

I think what we'll see is the major legislation will go through this process to get around a Democratic filibuster. I think that that is the way the first year of Trump's presidency will roll is Republicans say, look, we only have about a year to prove to the American people that we're serious and can deliver on these campaign promises, and they see those as bor. Energy and tax cuts. And if they can do that without Democratic votes, that is going to be their focus. I do not see a lot of early efforts at bipartisan policy negotiations. Really. At all. Yeah.

[Tamara Keith]

I mean, they did not win on any sort of promise of reaching across the aisle. They won on a promise of making America great again. America first. Drill, baby, drill. Mass deportations. The mandate is not to find Kumbaya. The mandate is to win, is to execute on the promises.

[Sarah McCammon]

All right. We're gonna leave it there for today. I'm Sarah McCammon. I cover politics.

[Deirdre Walsh]

I'm Deirdre Walsh. I cover Congress.

[Tamara Keith]

And I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House.

[Sarah McCammon]

And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics podcast.