Following the resolve of the meeting between President Donald Trump and both Republican and Democrats leaders in the White House yesterday where the president gave a nod to the Democrats proposal of a short-term debt ceiling hike that will ensure government funding tied with Harvey relief package, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is jeering the Senate toward the agreement accordingly.
According to The Hill, the Senate leader set up an initial vote late Wednesday night aimed at a multi-billion dollar Hurricane Harvey recovery bill coupled with a short-term funding measure and debt ceiling hike, which runs through December 8.
Unless a deal is reached to skip procedural rhetoric the first vote on the package would be slated for Friday according to standing Senate rules, although discussion continues on how to wrap up the bill this week.
Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee Sen. Thad Cochran while urging a quick support for the deal said, “The legislation before the Senate would address the nation’s most pressing needs. The serious nature of the natural disasters and fiscal commitments before us demand the Senate and House act without delay”.
Despite President Trump’s consent to the deal which comes as a shock to many Republicans owing to their proposal of a long-term debt ceiling increase, the passage of the bill will be a tough task as many Republicans and Democrats alike though want help for Hurricane Harvey victims but are unwilling to attach it with a debt limit increase. They insisted on spending cuts to fund government’s bills instead of a debt ceiling increase.Notable among the varying Senators is Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) who would have preferred to attach spending cuts to the House legislation to cover for the hurricane recovery funds with the offsets coming from unspent money set aside for foreign aid.
Notable among the varying Senators is Sen. Rand Paul who would have preferred to attach spending cuts to the House legislation to cover for the hurricane recovery funds with the offsets coming from unspent money set aside for foreign aid.
He said, “As the Senate prepares to vote on hurricane aid, I will be introducing an ‘America First’ amendment to cut wasteful spending from abroad to pay for much-needed relief here at home”.
Also, Sen. Mike Lee through his spokesman said he wouldn’t support it, while Sen. Ben Sasse outrightly painted the agreement as “bad.”
