Congress is poised to return to Washington D.C. this week to debate the weighty issues of war and peace amid a jam-packed legislative calendar and a limited timeframe on which to act on pressing fiscal issues.
There are only nine legislative days scheduled for the month of September, the end of which also marks the expiration of the current fiscal year. Congress will use most of that time to debate the authorization for the use of military force against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad that was requested by President Obama last week. In addition, a “continuing resolution” funding current federal government operations must be passed by Sept. 30 in order to prevent a federal government shutdown.
There is also the looming issue of the federal debt limit. Last week, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew sent a letter to congressional leadership stating that the United States will reach the debt limit in mid-October. In order to prevent a government default on the debt of the United States, Congress must act to raise or extend the debt limit before that time.
President Obama and congressional Democrats have repeatedly stated that they will not negotiate on raising or extending the debt limit. Congressional Republicans, on the other hand, have insisted that any increase in the debt limit must be coupled with a concomitant decrease in federal government spending.
Considerable uncertainty remains regarding how Congress will address these pressing fiscal issues. One possibility could be that Congress passes a two-week continuing resolution funding government operations in order to match up the government shutdown deadline with the debt limit deadline. That would give the two parties a slightly longer time frame to negotiate on budget issues.
Regarding the possibility of tax reform, indications are that the chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee are intent on marking up tax reform legislation this fall. The prospect of tax reform moving beyond the two committees is dependent on whether or not a deal on the budget and debt limit includes a provision for tax reform.
The ASPPA/NAPA Government Affairs team will remain closely engaged with the Hill as these high-stakes negotiations commence in the near future.
Andrew Remo is ASPPA’s Congressional Affairs Manager.
