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UP FRONT Tuesday 23 July 2019

Deal sealed on federal budget, ensuring no shutdown, default

Continued from Front cles for aggressively liberal Prospects for an agree-
policy initiatives. ment, a months-long prior-
Nobody notched a big The head of a large group ity of top Senate Repub-
win, but both sides view it of House GOP conserva- lican Mitch McConnell,
as better than a protracted tives swung against the R-Ky., became far brighter
battle this fall. deal. “No new controls are when Pelosi returned to
Pelosi and Schumer said put in place to constrain Washington this month and
the deal “will enhance our runaway spending, and a aggressively pursued the
national security and invest two-year suspension on the pact with Treasury Secre-
in middle class priorities debt limit simply adds fuel tary Steven Mnuchin , who
that advance the health, to the fire,” said Republican was anointed lead ne-
financial security and well- Study Committee Chair- gotiator instead of more
being of the American man Mike Johnson, R-La. conservative options like
people.” Top congressio- “With more than $22 trillion acting White House Chief
nal GOP leaders issued in debt, we simply cannot of Staff Mick Mulvaney or
more restrained statements afford deals like this one.” hardline Budget Director President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Pakistani
stressing that the deal is a Fights over Trump’s U.S.- Russell Vought. Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Oval Office of the White House,
flawed but achievable out- Mexico border wall, other Mnuchin was eager to avert Monday, July 22, 2019, in Washington.
come of a government in immigration-related issues a crisis over the govern- Associated Press
which Pelosi wields consid- and spending priorities will ment’s debt limit. There’s or his Democratic succes- speaking, the deal would
erable power. be rejoined on spending some risk of a first-ever U.S. sor would not have to con- lock in place big increas-
However, it also comes as bills this fall that are likely to default in September, and front the politically difficult es won by both sides in a
budget deficits are rising to produce much the same that added urgency to the issue until well into 2021. 2018 pact driven by the
$1 trillion levels — requiring result as current law. The negotiations. Washington’s arcane bud- demands of GOP defense
the government to borrow House has passed most of The pact would defuse get rules give each side hawks and award future in-
a quarter for every dollar its bills, using far higher lev- the debt limit issue for two a way to paint the num- creases consistent with low
the government spends — els for domestic spending. years, meaning that Trump bers favorably. Generally inflation.q
despite the thriving econ- Senate measures will follow
omy and three rounds of this fall, with levels reflect-
annual Trump budget pro- ing the accord.
posals promising to crack At issue are two separate
down on the domestic but pressing items on Wash-
programs that Pelosi is suc- ington’s must-do agenda:
cessfully defending now. increasing the debt limit to
It ignores warnings from avert a first-ever default on
deficit and debt scolds U.S. payments and acting
who say the nation’s fiscal to set overall spending lim-
future is unsustainable and its and prevent $125 billion
will eventually drag down in automatic spending cuts
the economy. from hitting the Pentagon
“This agreement is a total and domestic agencies
abdication of fiscal respon- with 10 percent cuts start-
sibility by Congress and ing in January.
the president,” said Maya The threat of the auto-
MacGuineas, president of matic cuts represents the
the Committee for a Re- last gasp of a failed 2011
sponsible Federal Budget, budget and debt pact
a Washington advocacy between former President
group. “It may end up Barack Obama and then-
being the worst budget Speaker John Boehner,
agreement in our nation’s R-Ohio, that promised fu-
history, proposed at a time ture spending and deficit
when our fiscal conditions cuts to cover a $2 trillion
are already precarious.” increase in the debt. But
A push by the White House a bipartisan deficit “super-
and House GOP forces for committee” failed to de-
new offsetting spending liver, and lawmakers were
cuts was largely jettisoned, unwilling to live with the fol-
though Pelosi, D-Calif., low-up cuts to defense and
gave assurances about not domestic accounts. This is
seeking to use the follow- the fourth deal since 2013
up spending bills as vehi- to reverse those cuts.