Congress is gearing up for a budget fight that could determine the course of President Biden's administration for at least the next year.
Lawmakers are prepping to resume negotiations on a year-long government funding deal when they return to Washington in early September. If successful, the agreement would lock in spending levels for federal agencies and departments regardless of whether Republicans win control of Congress this November.
Republican hardliners are unwilling to give Biden such a win, especially as the White House continues to push policies opposed by much of the GOP base.
"Any spending bill is a leverage point," House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital during a recent interview. "Those are [places] we can push for a specific outcome, whether it's on law enforcement, the border, or vaccine mandates."
While Republicans say they oppose shuttering the government, most argue the Biden administration is in need of a course correction. GOP lawmakers say the looming September 30 deadline — by which Congress must pass a government funding bill or risk a shutdown — marks the perfect opportunity.
The strategy underscores just how important the congressional budget is for a president to make their impact on the federal bureaucracy. A year-long spending deal would allow Biden to set spending levels across federal agencies and department, ensuring funding for priorities and initiatives key to his agenda.
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"President Biden laid out his vision for our country at the State of the Union by prioritizing investments in education, health care, growing the workforce, and building our economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not from the top down," said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. The "budget is a reflection of those priorities."
Biden, in particular, is eager to boost the Environmental Protection Agency's budget by double digits to help reach his goal of curbing carbon emissions at least 40% by 2030. The White House is also proposing budget increases for the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department in an effort to combat what it sees as monopolistic trade practices by corporate America.
While the White House has laid out a $5.8 trillion budget, the document is serving as little more than a jumping off point. Congressional appropriators from both parties are working to craft a deal that can garner 60 votes within the evenly split Senate.
Although bipartisan, any such deal is likely to benefit Democrats more than Republicans since the former controls the flow of legislation through Congress.
Given that reality, Democrats are pushing to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding for abortion, and boost social welfare spending over national defense.
Republicans say, however, they are unwilling to just be a rubber stamp for the Democratic majority.
"If we are going to get full year [spending] bills during this Congress, Democrats must commit to a bipartisan framework that abandons poison pills, preserves legacy riders, and demonstrates a serious commitment to our military," said Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Republicans specifically are pledging to tank any government funding deal if it repeals the Hyde Amendment.
"We are united in our resolve to preserve more than 45 years of consensus against taxpayer funding for abortion," 48 GOP senators wrote in a recent letter to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
GOP lawmakers also say they are unlikely to back a government funding deal that does not provide for equal increases in defense and social spending. They contend anything short of an equitable increase would put America's national security infrastructure at stake while Russia and China up their aggression overseas.
Lawmakers risk a government shutdown if they don't bridge the divides and pass a funding bill by September 30.
GOP leaders are wary of shuttering the government so close to the midterms, though. Senior Republicans note that government shutdown have backfired on the party in the past, with voters often blaming them for the impasse.
Republicans favor passing a stop-gap funding measure, known as a continuing resolution, to avert a shutdown. The move would give the party more the chance to negotiate a better budget deal down the line, especially if they retake control of Congress in November.
Democrats disfavor the idea, arguing that a stop-gap funding measure would keep the government funded at levels set in May of this year and not account for 40-year high inflation.
"The stakes of inaction are too high to not complete our work," said Leahy. "The burden of inflation would make a long-term continuing resolution untenable with grave consequences for communities and families across the country and for our national security."
Republicans say the only way to prevent such an outcome is for Democrats to compromise and meet them half-way on a budget deal.
"Democrats need to get serious or, regrettably, I believe we will end up with a long-term [continuing resolution]," said Shelby.
