U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks on House Republican debt ceiling plan (April 26, 2023)

House Republicans passed a debt ceiling hike Wednesday.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy pushed his package to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion through the House in a close vote. But the White House continues to say that it will not negotiate on the issue.

The federal government could default as soon as early June.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted the House’s Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023, calling it a “gut punch” and a “Default On America,” “This plan means fewer jobs, higher costs for the American people, particularly average middle class people, would leave police, first responders, border patrol, and our brave veterans all hanging out to dry. There are dramatic slashes with each of those very necessary functions.”

Schumer said a clean debt ceiling had been passed before in a bipartisan manner twice under President Trump and once under President Obama.

Congressman Nick Langworthy issued a statement on the plan, saying, “Today, I was proud to vote for the Limit Save Grow Act that is the first step to breaking Washington’s addiction to spending and getting our nation’s finances back on track. This plan is a responsible, reasonable framework for spending reforms that the American people are demanding. It’s time for President Biden to stop the games and come to the table to negotiate.”

Schumer said the cuts in the House’s plan are not abstract including the possibility that 2 million New York residents could lose Medicaid coverage, “It slashes federal heating assistance, LIHEAP, that upstate families and seniors use to stay safe. We lose close to a billion dollars in LIHEAP and would reduce the average benefit a household would receive by $400. New York does better with LIHEAP than any other state and it would hurt us dramatically.”

Schumer said there could be a $144 million cut in SNAP benefits for New Yorkers which would affect 53,000 residents in the state.

Moody’s analytics warned that “dramatic” cuts to government spending in the House Republican’s plan would spark a 2024 recession that costs the economy 2.6 million jobs and lifts the unemployment rate near 6%.

A nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis released Tuesday showed the Republican plan would reduce federal deficits by $4.8 trillion over the decade if the proposed changes were enacted into law.

This marks the first bill passed by the GOP-controlled House this Congress.

The bill, which is unlikely to see action in the Democratic-controlled Senate, passed in a party-line 221-210 vote on Monday evening.

A boost of about $80 billion in IRS funding over a decade generally aimed at upping high-income enforcement was included in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats’ sweeping tax, health and climate bill.

The Republican bill, formally titled the “Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act,” directs any “unobligated balances of amounts appropriated or otherwise made available” to the IRS from the Inflation Reduction Act to be rescinded.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated Monday that the legislation would eliminate about $71 billion of the total $80 billion that was allocated for the IRS but would reduce tax revenue by about $186 billion, translating to a $114 billion increase in deficits over the next decade.

Republicans have repeatedly falsely claimed the 87,000 new IRS employees, who would be added over the course of a decade, would be “agents.”

The 87,000 figure comes from a May 2021 Treasury Department compliance report estimating new hires over a decade with the $80 billion funding boost. But only a small portion of the department’s current employees are agents, and the department has said the figure accounts for other workers such as customer service representatives and computer scientists as well as replacements for the 52,000 employees expected to retire or resign within the next six years.

IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said in an August letter to members of the Senate that the funds from the legislation would be used to up examination of large corporations and high-net-worth individuals and were not designed to raise enforcement for households making less than $400,000.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has also said that the agency would not increase audit rates for those taxpayers making less than $400,000.

Republicans, however, argued that the directives did not prohibit increased enforcement activities directed at middle- and low-income taxpayers, and pointed to a CBO analysis that said the funding boost would mean audit rates “rise for all taxpayers.” They also criticized the legislation for not allocating a larger portion to taxpayer services.

Representative Nick Langworthy voted for the bill, saying in a statement, “The problems facing the people of Western New York and the Southern Tier require a sense of urgency and that’s what they deserve from their representatives. I made a promise to protect taxpayers from an overzealous, politicized IRS and I delivered. The American people entrusted us with the Majority and it’s time we produce results. We are just getting started.”

The bill stand little chance in the Senate, and the White House said in a statement on Monday that President Biden would veto it if it came to his desk.

This came after four days and 14 failed ballots, the longest the House has gone leaderless in a century.

The standoff ended with far-right Republican holdouts voting present, which dropped the tally McCarthy needed.

The tally was 216-212 with Democrats voting for leader Hakeem Jeffries, and six Republican holdouts to McCarthy simply voting present.

The agreement McCarthy presented to the holdouts from the Freedom Caucus and others centers around rules changes they have been seeking for months. Those changes would shrink the power of the speaker’s office and give rank-and-file lawmakers more influence in drafting and passing legislation.

At the core of the emerging deal was the reinstatement of a House rule that would allow a single lawmaker to make a motion to “vacate the chair,” essentially calling a vote to oust the speaker.

Other wins for the holdouts include provisions in the proposed deal to expand the number of seats available on the House Rules Committee; to mandate 72 hours for bills to be posted before votes; and to promise to try for a constitutional amendment that would impose federal limits on the number of terms a person could serve in the House and Senate.

Member-elects were finally sworn into office following the election of McCarthy as Speaker, including 23rd Congressional District Representative Nick Langworthy.

Langworthy, who supported McCarthy through the entire balloting process, issued a statement that said, “Kevin McCarthy led us to a majority and he will be an incredible leader for the House of Representatives. We will keep our Commitment to America by reducing inflation, securing our borders, taking on China and fighting for safer communities for all of us.”

Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy after first of three rounds of balloting on January 5th to elect Speaker of the House (January 5, 2023)

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives failed an 11th time to elect a House Speaker on Thursday.

The House GOP failed to come to a consensus in three rounds of voting on Thursday to elect California Republican Kevin McCarthy as the Speaker.

This has been the longest contest for speaker in 164 years.

McCarthy told reporters that while there has been progress in negotiations, there was no timeline on when he could get to 218 votes.

His bid for speaker has been stymied by about 20 fellow Republicans.

New York Democrat Hakeem Jeffries continues to have the unanimous support of his caucus.

The House will reconvene at noon today to continue balloting.

House

Conservative Republican foes have kept him from getting close to a majority in the latest round of voting for speaker that has now stretched into a third day.

The House adjourned for a few hours early Wednesday evening only to then adjourn until noon Thursday.

In the three rounds of balloting Wednesday, 20 Republicans voted for Byron Donalds as an alternative to McCarthy. Donalds is one of the few Black Republicans in Congress and has represented a Florida district since 2021. One Republican, Victoria Spartz, voted present.

Republicans will hold a narrow 222-212 majority in the House, with one current vacancy, requiring McCarthy to win at least 218 votes to claim the speakership, assuming all 434 lawmakers vote. Under a provision in the U.S. Constitution, he also would become second in line of succession to the presidency.

McCarthy, a staunch conservative himself, has sought for years to lead the House. Over the past several weeks, he has met repeatedly with his Republican foes to secure their support.

McCarthy offered to change the House’s governing rules in several ways, including to permit snap votes to declare the speakership vacant and select someone else if they did not like his policy stances or how the party caucus was conducting its promised investigations of Biden and his administration.

Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, with all 212 Democrats voting for him, led the voting for the speakership, although he has no chance of winning the job because no Republicans plan to vote for him to help him reach the 218 majority.

The 77 new House Representatives, including 23rd Congressional District member-elect Nick Langworthy, are in limbo until a House Speaker is elected. New House members cannot be sworn in until a Speaker is elected.

California Republican Representative Kevin McCarthy failed to secure the 218 votes necessary to become speaker of the House in three rounds of voting. The House cannot conduct any business, including swearing in new members, until a speaker is chosen.

This is the first time in 100 years that the speaker election went to multiple rounds of balloting.

The longest vote in U.S. history took place in 1855, lasting 133 rounds over two months, from December 1855 to February 1856.

McCarthy faces a Republican bloc of critics who want changes to the way the House operates. Although he’s given in to many of their demands, he remains short of the votes needed.

House members are expected to resume voting on a speaker today.

The new Senate also gaveled into session Tuesday. Democrat Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are back in their respective positions. Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington was elected as the new president pro tem.

The stopgap measure, known as a “continuing resolution,” is needed to avert a partial shutdown of federal agencies that would otherwise begin on Saturday.

It passed 224 votes to 201, largely along party lines, with nine Republicans voting for the measure.

Congressman Joe Sempolinski voted no, as he said he would in his weekly media call. Sempolinski said there’s a big problem with how Congress does budgeting, “We’re not anywhere close to regular order. We’re not anywhere close to how this is supposed to be done. And in this particular case, no House Republicans have been part of this negotiations. This is just Democrats fighting with Democrats and also including some Senate Republicans, arguing about how much to increase spending. They’re not fighting about, ‘Should we keep spending the same, or should we cut spending when we’re in a significant deficit?’ They’re talking about how much to increase spending.”

Top congressional negotiators announced on Tuesday an agreement on a framework for the full-year “omnibus” bill. They did not reveal the amount of money they had agreed on, though it is expected to exceed last year’s $1.5 trillion.

In addition to funding the U.S. government, the package is expected to include aid for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian military and a bill reforming the way the United States certifies presidential elections.

House Republicans object to a full-year bill, saying they would prefer to vote on funding the government early next year when they take majority control of the chamber and will have more power to slash domestic spending.

Joe Sempolinski

Congressman Joe Sempolinski is celebrating the passing of the 21st Century Assistive Technology Act in the House of Representatives.

Sempolinski was the primary Republican sponsor of the bill and worked with Democratic Rep. Mark DeSaulnier to secure 350 bipartisan votes. The bill still needs to be passed in the U.S. Senate.

Sempolinski said it helps promote awareness of critical assistive technology devices and services while improving access to life changing technology for those living with disabilities, “It could be a walker, a wheelchair, a communication device, a children’s toy or game as a learning aide. And getting this technology into the hands of those who need it in the disability community changes lives. It makes people who might not otherwise be able to be employed, employed. It makes people who might not be able to be independent, independent.

Sempolinski added that passing the bill is one of his proudest achievements while in Congress given that helping people with disabilities has been a focus of his tenure.

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act on March 15. If passed by the House, it would make daylight saving time permanent, effective on November 5, 2023.

Congressman Joe Sempolinski said his primary concern regarding the bill is safety especially when it comes to kids going to and coming home from school, “So, I’m in favor of any arrangement of the clock that keeps children the most safe and I think that’s what we should study first. And if that happens to be going to a permanent status, either daylight saving time, or standard time, or a continuous switch, or altering when the switch is what I’m most concerned about is kids are safe as they’re going about their day to day life.”

Sempolinski said if the bill is not voted on by the House before Congress adjourns on January 3, 2023, then the bill dies.

Clocks move back an hour to standard time at 2:00 a.m., Sunday, November 6. People are encouraged to also test and change batteries in smoke or carbon monoxide detectors at this time as well.

The proposed State Assembly redistricting map that challengers want thrown out

New York State of Politics reports a Steuben County State Supreme Court judge has upheld the lawmaker-drawn district maps for the state Assembly.

In his ruling, Judge Patrick McAllister said the maps of state Assembly districts were also “unconstitutional in the manner in which they were enacted” by the state Legislature. But the judge said it would cause “total confusion” to allow the people challenging the Assembly maps—Democratic activist Gary Greenberg and conservative political commentator Gavin Wax—to join an ongoing lawsuit over the Senate and congressional maps.

McAllister said Greenberg and Wax knew about the lawsuit when it was filed in February, “Yet they chose to do nothing at that time.” The judge said the pair could still file a separate lawsuit challenging the Assembly maps. But he said letting them raise their argument in the ongoing lawsuit would likely mean New York wouldn’t have all of its maps ready in time for a primary this year.

Wax has previously indicated he will appeal to a higher court.

The ruling from McAllister is in contrast to the rejection of the maps for the U.S. House of Representatives as well as for the state Senate in New York, which were found to be unconstitutional.

A court-appointed expert has been tasked with redrawing the congressional and state Senate maps by May 20. Primaries for those elections have been moved from June 28 to August 23.