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rosa delauro
Top Senate Dem Says 'We're Not Going to Let Elon Musk Run the Government'
After once again moving the nation toward a government shutdown, the House GOP on Friday was pushing a Plan C: separate votes on short-term funding, disaster relief, and farming.
Dec 20, 2024
Congressional Democrats on Friday continued to target billionaire Elon Musk and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for forcing a last-minute scramble to prevent a government shutdown shortly before the winter holidays.
"I'm ready to stay here through Christmas because we're not going to let Elon Musk run the government," Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said in a Friday statement. "Put simply, we should not let an unelected billionaire rip away research for pediatric cancer so he can get a tax cut or tear down policies that help America outcompete China because it could hurt his bottom line."
"We had a bipartisan deal—we should stick to it. The deal that was already agreed to would responsibly fund the government, offer badly needed disaster relief to communities across America, and deliver some good bipartisan policy reforms," she added. "The American people do not want chaos or a costly government shutdown all because an unelected billionaire wants to call the shots—I am ready to work with Republicans and Democrats to pass the bipartisan deal both sides negotiated as soon as possible."
If Congress doesn't act before midnight, a government shutdown could begin overnight—a possibility the White House Office of Management and Budget is warning federal agencies to prepare for,
according toWashington Post reporter Jeff Stein.
After Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy—the two billionaires Trump has tapped to co-lead his forthcoming Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—came out against the initial bipartisan deal on Wednesday, the president-elect swiftly followed suit, leading progressive critics to dub Musk, the world's richest person, a "shadow president" a month before the inauguration.
Faced with that opposition and Trump's sudden call for the continuing resolution to also raise the country's debt ceiling, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Thursday evening held a vote on a bill that would address that demand and fund the government for three months—but it was rejected by 38 Republicans and all but two Democrats.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, on Thursday night called out Musk on his own social media platform, X, and argued that "Congress must not yield to out-of-touch billionaires."
After
voting against the so-called American Relief Act (H.R. 10515) on Thursday, Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) said in a statement that "we had an agreement. A bipartisan negotiated continuing resolution. But then the Republicans' billionaire bosses—Trump and Musk—got involved, and Republicans showed us *exactly* who they work for."
"In the last 48 hours, the Republicans have shown, AGAIN, that their agenda is the corporate billionaire, big money in politics agenda," she continued. "In order to meet their bosses' expectations, they offer up vulnerable Americans as an offering, sacrificing working people's healthcare, children's research, elderly people's affordable prescription drugs, and much, much more."
"And they are laying the groundwork to make the rich richer through tax cuts for the ultrawealthy in the 119th Congress," Ramirez warned. "If the Republicans want to make the rich richer, the poor poorer, and the sick sicker, they will have to pass this continuing resolution without me. I work for everyday Americans. I am not beholden to billionaires. I voted NO."
With less than 12 hours until a shutdown, Senate Democrats are putting the blame on Johnson, who is shifting to Plan C: three separate votes on "a short-term funding bill, money for recent natural disasters, and a one-year farm bill extension with aid for farmers," Politicoreported Friday.
According to the outlet:
The new plan will test his ability to wrangle his conference. Members believe Johnson is taking the proposal through the Rules Committee, trying to pass it through regular order so it only requires a simple majority on the House floor. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who is on the panel, said that he will back the plan, meaning it should have enough support to get out of the committee.
But then things get trickier. Johnson would need near unity from his conference to bring it up for debate on the floor, known as voting for the rule. Democrats typically don't vote for rules and are loath to help bail out Republicans after they backed away from a bipartisan funding agreement earlier this week.
"Republicans have the House majority—they should be able to pass whatever they want. If they need our votes, they have to come to the table and negotiate," outgoing Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said Friday. "That's what happened, and we struck a bipartisan deal. But then they blew it up because of a tweet from a billionaire. Insane."
The shutdown threat comes as Republicans prepare to control not only the White House but also both chambers of Congress next year.
Reporting on the GOP's Friday leadership meeting, Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman said that a slide was displayed for a debt ceiling agreement that would "raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion in the 'first reconciliation package' alongside a promise to CUT $2.5 trillion in 'net mandatory spending in the reconciliation process.'"
Though federal law prohibits using the reconciliation process to alter Social Security, the advocacy group Social Security Works noted in response to Sherman that "the ONLY WAY to cut $2.5 trillion in spending is by slashing Social Security, Medicare, and/or Medicaid. Republicans want to steal our benefits to pay for their billionaire tax cuts."
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Top Democrat Issues Warning Over Trump Plot to 'Steal' From Federal Programs
"The Constitution provides no impoundment power to the president to unilaterally withhold funds appropriated by Congress," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro.
Dec 07, 2024
The top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee warned Friday that President-elect Donald Trump is planning to "steal from the programs and services that affect middle-class, working, and vulnerable families" by refusing to spend money appropriated by Congress.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said in a statement that Trump's strategy, known as "impoundment," is "uninformed and unconstitutional," adding that "the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice, and the Government Accountability Office are all in agreement—the Constitution provides no impoundment power to the president to unilaterally withhold funds appropriated by Congress."
"It is the sworn duty of the president of the United States to faithfully execute the law," DeLauro added, "and appropriations laws are no exception."
In a new fact sheet, Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee note that "the Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse, and nowhere does it give the president any unilateral power to either temporarily or permanently impound—steal, withhold, or prevent from being spent—funds appropriated by Congress."
"The Framers were right to give Congress the power of the purse," the fact sheet states. "If the president had the unilateral power to decline to spend resources as directed by Congress, then those who rely on Social Security, Medicare, Veterans Medical Care, and other federal spending programs would be subject to the whims of the executive branch. The American people would be unable to depend on promises made by Congress in appropriations laws."
Trump has explicitly vowed to use impoundment to "squeeze the bloated federal bureaucracy for massive savings," a plan endorsed by the billionaire pair tapped by the president-elect to run a new commission tasked with identifying spending and regulations to slash.
"With impoundment, we can simply choke off the money," Trump declared in a campaign ad.
"They have no authority. Does anybody get that?"
Following Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's visit to Capitol Hill on Thursday to discuss their plans for the "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) with GOP lawmakers, The Washington Postreported that Republicans are "keen on expanding the president's power to impound spending—or refuse to spend money Congress authorizes."
"Musk and Ramaswamy said they were eager to test the constitutional limits of Trump's ability to unilaterally control spending decisions," the Post reported, citing two unnamed lawmakers. "Republicans largely left the more than two-hour meeting giddy."
Analysts argue Trump's plan to withhold federal spending would run afoul of the 1974 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act (ICA). The law, as Propublica's Molly Redden explained, "forbids presidents from blocking spending over policy disagreements."
"A similar power grab led to his first impeachment," Redden wrote. "During his first term, Trump held up nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine while he pressured President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to open a corruption investigation into Joe Biden and his family. The U.S. Government Accountability Office later ruled his actions violated the Impoundment Control Act."
Democrats on the House Budget Committee recently pointed out that "although decided after the ICA passed, the Supreme Court unanimously held in Train v. City of New York that even without the ICA, the president does not have unilateral authority to impound funds."
That hasn't stopped Trump, Musk, and Ramaswamy from exploring ways to cut or block spending without congressional approval.
In a Wall Street Journalop-ed published last month, Musk and Ramaswamy wrote that "even without relying on" the view that the ICA is unconstitutional, "DOGE will help end federal overspending by taking aim at the $500 billion-plus in annual federal expenditures that are unauthorized by Congress or being used in ways that Congress never intended, from $535 million a year to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and $1.5 billion for grants to international organizations to nearly $300 million to progressive groups like Planned Parenthood."
Housing assistance, childcare aid, student loan programs, and other spending would also be vulnerable under such an approach.
"They want [to cut] $2 trillion," DeLauro told reporters Thursday. "Think about the discretionary budget. It's $1.7 trillion. Where are they going for the money? Where are they going?"
"They have no authority," she added. "Does anybody get that?"
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Shutdown Looms as House Rejects GOP Attempt to Impose 'Trump's Dangerous Agenda'
"As long as House Republicans continue pushing Project 2025 funding bills, they will continue pushing our nation towards a government shutdown," said Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle.
Sep 19, 2024
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected a GOP resolution that would have punted a fight over government funding until after the next president takes office and pushed through a noxious voter suppression measure backed by Republican nominee Donald Trump.
The final vote was 202-220, with 14 Republicans joining nearly every member of the House Democratic caucus in voting against the legislation. GOP opponents of the bill included far-right lawmakers who want to slash spending.
Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine), Don Davis (D-N.C.), and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) broke with their party and backed the Republican continuing resolution, which would have largely extended government funding at current levels into March.
With Trump's backing, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) agreed to attach to the continuing resolution the SAVE Act, legislation purportedly aimed at preventing noncitizens from voting—which is already illegal. Voting rights advocates have condemned the SAVE Act as an "unnecessary and dangerous" bill that would "make it harder for voters of color and naturalized citizens to register to vote."
"Instead of working with Democrats to fund the government, House Republicans tied themselves into knots trying to give Trump what he wants."
House Democrats said Wednesday that the failure of the GOP continuing resolution was an inevitable consequence of the party's decision to push extremist spending bills instead of working on a bipartisan solution to government funding.
The government will shut down on October 1 unless Congress acts. Johnson said leading up to Wednesday's vote that there is "no Plan B."
"Once again, the House Republican majority has failed at its most basic tasks while trying to force Trump's extreme and unpopular Project 2025 agenda on the American people," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. "Everyone in Washington, Democrats and Republicans, knew this ill-conceived continuing resolution was destined to fail. Why we spent a week and a half considering a partisan bill, just days from a government shutdown, is beyond comprehension."
"We have seven legislative days to keep the government open," she continued. "The time to begin negotiations on a continuing resolution that can gain the support of Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate was last week—but right now will suffice, if Republicans are willing to meet us at the table and actually govern."
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said late Wednesday that "as long as House Republicans continue pushing Project 2025 funding bills, they will continue pushing our nation towards a government shutdown."
"Trump said he'd 'shut down the government in a heartbeat' to push his Project 2025 agenda—and instead of working with Democrats to fund the government, House Republicans tied themselves into knots trying to give Trump what he wants," said Boyle. "Just as they've done for the last two years, House Republicans have proven they're more interested in imposing Trump's dangerous agenda than lifting a finger to help middle-class families and keep our government open. American families deserve better than this extreme bill and they deserve better than House Republicans."
Democratic lawmakers are reportedly expected to propose a clean three-month extension of government funding to avert a shutdown and buy time to negotiate a longer-term deal on government spending.
Ahead of Wednesday's vote, DeLauro warned that House Republicans believe delaying the government funding fight until March 2025 would give them "more leverage to force their unpopular cuts to services that American families depend on to make ends meet."
"This bill is an admission that a House Republican majority cannot govern," said DeLauro. "They would rather gamble on an intervening election than attempt to complete their work on time."
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