September will bring another funding cliff for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the rest of the federal government as the two parties fight over presidential funding ‘claw-backs.’ The House and Senate USDA spending bills are almost $4-billion apart, and the House must still pass its bill before a compromise can be reached, then taken up again in both chambers.
Standing in the way of progress is a potential government shutdown in September. However, South Dakota Senator and Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he might push another stop-gap funding bill forward to keep the government open.
“I think a lot of that depends on how cooperative the Democrats are in trying to get the appropriations process moving forward. But what I can tell you is, we are going to look for ways to keep the government funded, open, and operating.”
Senate Minority Leader and New York Senator Chuck Schumer first threatened a government shutdown after Republicans passed $9 billion in Trump spending ‘claw-backs,’ but then let a handful of funding bills pass, including USDA’s.
“When one side tries to do it all, it creates problems. We are pushing hard to get the appropriations process continuing to move forward, and that’s why we’re cooperating on the bills that they’re putting on the floor.”
Schumer and his counterpart in the House– Minority Leader and New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries– are now demanding Republicans end ‘claw-backs’ and spending freezes in order to get cooperation from Democrats to keep the government funded.
Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley isn’t buying it.
“This is a cover-your-rear-end sort of approach. This is their way of saying if the government shuts down, it’s the Republicans’ fault. We’re not going to fall for that.”
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