Congress Catch-All | House passes CR, no debt ceiling change

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nycfan said:
Cont’d)

“… A handshake agreement was made Friday to address the debt ceiling in the new year.

Johnson flashed the draft agreement in a House GOP conference meeting that afternoon that said they would raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in a packaged deal that would include Trump’s border security and economic reform asks, “with an agreement that we will cut $2.5 trillion in net mandatory spending” throughout the legislative process.

Many House Republicans, particularly those responsible for allotting government spending, knew that was an impossible goal unless the party went against its campaign promise to not cut Medicare or Social Security.

Hard-liners also knew an agreement in principle would likely be broken, but could no longer protest as the train was leaving the station on a funding bill that mirrored Thursday’s failed proposal, except that it no longer included the debt ceiling hike.

“They call that a gentleman’s agreement, but there are no gentlemen out here,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee) said. …”
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Johnson = capo
Trump = consigliere
Elon = don

There’s no honor, or honesty, among thieves.
 
“… The Senate passed the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act after it passed legislation to fund the government until mid March. The Gabriella Miller bill gives the National Institutes of Health $63 million over five years to conduct childhood cancer and disease research, according to Ellyn Miller, founder of the Smashing Walnuts Foundation that pushed for the bill, which is named after her daughter who died of brain cancer.

But Congress did not pass other pediatric cancer research measures that had been stripped from the government-funding bill.

… It’s not clear why Republicans dropped the health care package. The cost of the package was offset, according to a congressional cost estimate reviewed by STAT. So it wasn’t the cost itself that led to it being stripped. …”

——
The research dollars extension ain’t nothing, but here is what was not included:

“…
  • A program that rewards researchers for approvals of pediatric cancer drugs with valuable vouchers that require faster Food and Drug Administration reviews of another drug application of any kind. The priority review voucher program was to be extended until 2029.
  • A program that would allow kids with cancer who are covered by Medicaid and the Children’s health insurance program known as CHIP to receive out-of-state treatment.
  • New authority for the FDA to fine companies when they don’t complete required pediatric studies. The FDA already has this authority for adult studies.
  • New FDA authority to require that companies study pediatric drugs in combination with other treatments for the same disease when those treatments are owned by the same company or are available as generics. “
Now, maybe some version of these bills will get revived and passed as part of a more comprehensive and systematic budget overhaul that is intended by some in the GOP to include $2T in spending cuts.

But maybe not. Our resources are not infinite and as always something has to give. If we have an orderly debate of debt, taxes and spending priorities, these might or might not make the cut. And if I though we were about to have a realistic debate and overhaul of the U.S. budget, I would be hopeful some of these programs have a real chance of passage (many of which are intended to provide services for childhood cancer patients that are already available to elderly cancer patients — which may be the real issue, a perceived mission creep toward Medicare for all who need it).
 


GIFT LINK —> https://www.wsj.com/politics/gop-sp...2a?st=RsVKAD&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink

“The DOGE caught the CR, and the road only gets bumpier from here.

The latest episode of House Republicans’ fiscal-policy psychodrama featured a familiar problem—how to unite a fractious and slim majority around a continuing resolution, or CR, to keep the government open. That was tough enough before Elon Musk, co-head of President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, spurred Republicans to chuck a bipartisan agreement that included a series of unrelated deals. …”
 
nycfan said:


Shocked GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
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A speakership battle will significantly delay anything Trump wants to get done in 2025 -- at least through Congressional action. I know Trump can be dumb sometimes, but that would be especially dumb if this is anything more than a brushback pitch.
 
Calheel said:
. . .. I know Trump can be dumb sometimes, but that would be especially dumb if this is anything more than a brushback pitch.
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When I read the above, the expression, "hold my beer," just sorta popped into my head.
 
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