Copy of AFF Sentinel V22 #18-Government Funding -- Again
- Steve Dittmer
- Jul 22
- 4 min read
Politics Up Against Friday Midnight Deadline
Steve Dittmer | AFF Sentinel
Colorado Springs, CO
Originally sent to subscribers 03/09/25
As we’ve mentioned, the next big fight in Washington is over government funding. And the House Democrats have made it plain where they stand.
It has been obvious that the Democrats are fighting furiously over cutting spending, reducing the size of the federal workforce and don’t seem to mind spending money on foreign soil for programs most Americans disagree with.
You might have also noticed that they are using alleged threats against key programs, even though President Trump and the Republicans have pledged not to cut benefits for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. It reminds us of that spot featuring grandma in her wheelchair being pushed off a cliff the Democrats ran the last time there was any serious effort to reform entitlements.
It really doesn’t matter to the Democrats if there will eventually be major cuts in benefits someday if nothing is ever done to reform those programs. They evidently figure they will be out of power personally by then, or they will blame things on someone else or whatever. Logic, cause-and-effect and responsibility are not their stock-in-trade.
The logical place to start is waste, fraud and abuse but even that is too much common sense for many Democrats to stand.
Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sent out a letter to his members indicating that “Medicaid is our redline.” They could not vote for a funding bill and if shutting down the government was necessary, so be it, according to Axios. That is the first sign of Jeffries attempting to flex Democrat political muscles.
They didn’t pay much attention to his instructions not to act like silly activists at the State of the Union speech, so we’re not sure what his instructions will accomplish this time.
Interestingly, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer doesn’t think threatening a government shutdown is a very good idea. The Democrats have usually relied on the media to foist the blame for shutdowns on Republicans but while the media may still take that tack, American voters aren’t so easily fooled these days.
The Democrats have been demanding guarantees that there will be no cutting of programs already authorized by Congress. By which we would take to mean all the bloated spending in the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act passed under Biden’s reign. Some of the latter aimed specifically at climate change measures is exactly what many in agriculture want to redirect in USDA’s budget.
The House Republicans have a guaranteed “no” vote in Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky), which means they have to have all Republican votes to pass any kind of funding bill. The Senate has a bigger problem. With Sen. Rand Paul pledged to vote “No,” that means Majority Leader John Thune needs at least eight Democrat votes to pass a funding bill.
The Democrats are loudly protesting any personnel cuts of the federal government. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been talking about thousands of workers but the federal workforce numbers over three million, including 600,000 at the Post Office alone. But any cuts are too many for some politicians and, of course, the public employees unions. Those numbers don’t include the military at all.
Interestingly, the largest cabinet level agency is the VA, with 486,000 employees. The largest agency classified as an independent agency is the Social Security Administration, with 59,000 employees.
Some 59,000 employees and yet they haven’t been able to update their eligibility list to delete many thousands of people supposedly over 120 years old. More government efficiency.
The Republicans have released their funding bill -- a 99-page is evidently considered a “clean” bill in Washington -- and Congress has until Friday midnight to pass it to avoid a government shutdown.
We’ve said for years shutdowns, which do not include essential workers, are not the catastrophe the media have let on. It will be interesting this time around to see how they handle it if it’s the Democrats forcing the shutdown.
The bill House Speaker Johnson released keeps much spending at current levels until Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. There are increases for deportations, for the military and veterans’ healthcare. Extending the spending authority allows more flexibility for President Trump to move money around the rest of the fiscal year.
The Democrats don’t like that approach. Rep. Rosa de Lauro -- she of the purple hair and fierce visage during the State of the Union speech -- calls it a chance for Trump and Elon Musk to steal from the American people.
The bill would increase defense spending by $6 billion -- with some flexibility built in -- provide more deportation funds for ICE and freeze $20 billion in special IRS funding. It would cut non-defense spending by $13 billion.
There is also more funding for WIC nutrition programs.
Much of the $13 billion in cuts would come from earmarks left out from both Democrat and Republican members for projects in their own states. Earmarks had been eliminated in 2011 but were resurrected in 2021, though capped at one percent of the discretionary part of the budget. In 2023, that amounted to over 8,800 projects and $16.7 billion.
If Johnson can shepherd the bill through the House, the Senate will need at least eight Democrat votes to get the 60 votes needed to pass it and send it on to President Trump.
There are some Republicans who usually will not vote for any Continuing Resolution because they feel everything should be done in regular order in committee and want to cut spending. They will have to be convinced that spending cuts here, plus more in the next budget and future DOGE cuts will really happen, to vote for this bill.
The bill is scheduled for a vote Tuesday, so the Senate has time to act before Friday midnight. Evidently, the plan is for the House to pass it and then adjourn, to put the onus for a shutdown on the Senate, according to Politico.
That creates a lot of pressure on Senate Majority Leader John Thune, to corral all Republicans and eight Democrats.
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