Inside D.C.

Unleash the “Cromnibus”!

As I write this House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R, CA) just told Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D, MD) that, all things being equal, the 113^th Congress will adjourn for good on Thursday, December 11.  All they have to do is get the government paid for through September, 2015.

Pray to whatever deity in which you believe the man is correct.

In true Washington fashion, McCarthy makes it sound as if getting bicameral, bipartisan agreement with Tea Party sign on to a $1-trillion FY2015 spending package is a walk in the park, when it’s the heaviest lift for any Congress, no matter the party in control.  Having failed again to pass 12 independent spending bills, Congress in years past had two options:  Enact an omnibus package of all 12 bills adjusted a bit upward for the new fiscal year, or pass yet again a continuing resolution (CR) keeping the government open at the previous year’s spending levels.

But wait; again in true Washington fashion, we’ve spawned a new animal: The “cromnibus.”  This beast is a hybrid, part omnibus – spending bills on which there is agreement – and part CR, at least for one of the dozen bills.  This thing must have legs by midnight December 11 because that’s when the current CR runs out.

The House FY2015 “cromnibus” proposal would extend through September 30, 2015, all federal department and agencies.  Word is the ag/FDA spending bill is “noncontroversial,” which is DC speak for “we’ve gotten rid of all the garbage.”  The exception to this happy story is the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which will get a CR, through, senior appropriators say, a “February-ish” deadline.  The DHS exception is designed to limit federal dollars which can be spent to enforce the President’s controversial, in-your-face-Republican-leaders, executive order on immigration reform.

However, while most of the other 11 spending bills have been successfully negotiated, any breakdown on any single bill means more than just DHS would need another CR to keep operating.

Speaker John Boehner (R, OH) says House and Senate appropriators are hammering out details and the “cromnibus” is expected to be unveiled Monday, December 8.  Boehner claims he has the GOP and Democrat votes to approve the package, despite GOP budget hawk squawking about “pandering” to their fiscal tight-fistedness.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) has been uncharacteristically mum on the spending plan, but recently warned the Speaker to “tread lightly” with the “cromnibus” shenanigans.  Implicit in her warning is the reality this President won’t hesitate to veto the package, forcing Congress to enact an overarching CR through probably the first quarter of 2015.  The Senate is silent on the maneuver.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, NV) is no fool; let the House do the heavy lifting, as it must on money bills, but also take the rap if this procedural house of cards collapses.

We should know how this will play by next Tuesday morning.  Despite the partisan and chamber-versus-chamber rhetoric that will flow like water between the supporters and the detractors, the only voice that matters initially will be that from the White House.  If the President threatens to veto the package, well, so much for McCarthy’s deadline.

Looking back, this Congress seems like the longest two years in history.   So much noise, so much drama, so much blaming, and so little to show for it.  This week and next seem like more of the same.

It’s made wonder if I’ve done this lobbying thing too long, a thought process I seem to go through more frequently as I get older.  But then I think about the prospect of an all-GOP show in the 114^th Congress — which kicks off January 6, 2015 — and it kind of gets my motor running again, if only to see if the party of Lincoln blows a golden opportunity — and to see if I can tolerate another Congress.