What to Know in Washington: Congress Nets Deal But Time is Tight

Congressional leaders and the White House reached a handshake deal to fund the government through Sept. 30 after six months of bitter ideological divisions delayed finishing an annual spending plan.

Lawmakers will now race to pass the agreement before a midnight Friday deadline for a partial government shutdown. The first task will be putting the accord in writing, which could take several days.

The consensus came last night after funding for the Homeland Security Department — the final obstacle in weeks of negotiations — was resolved. White House and House Republican negotiators sealed the agreement after tense talks over the weekend delayed release of the package.

Photographer: Nathan Howard/Sipa/Bloomberg

President Joe Biden and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) exit the Capitol on Friday.

Congressional aides still need to finish writing text of the legislation and a short shutdown over the weekend is possible as Congress prepares to vote on the legislation. Financial markets have shrugged off the five previous shutdown deadlines since the Oct. 1 start of the federal fiscal year, assuming lawmakers would seek to avoid a politically damaging shutdown in an election year.

House rules require bills to be published for 72 hours before a vote and the Senate would require agreement of all 100 members to vote on any bill before the end of the week. House rules can be waived, while senators could agree to hold a vote if they are given the opportunity to offer amendment votes, however.

The deal includes roughly $1.1 trillion in funding for the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, State, Treasury, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. Funds for the SEC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the legislative branch are also included in the deal. Erik Wasson, Ellen M. Gilmer, and Jack Fitzpatrick track the latest on the deal.

BIDEN’S AGENDA

• The president plans to a campaign swing through Nevada and Arizona today, with stops in Reno, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.
• In Vegas, Biden is scheduled to deliver remarks on lowering costs for American families around 3 p.m.

CONGRESS’ SCHEDULE

• The House meets at 2 p.m. to take up a ban on selling data to adversaries.
• Senators convene at 3 p.m. to vote on a circuit judge nominee.
• For the full detailed agenda, read BGOV’s Congress Tracker.

Happening on Capitol Hill

The Capitol on Saturday. Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images

THE FATE of a 21% corporate tax rate hinges on how the 2024 election shakes out. The GOP’s 2017 tax law permanently slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% to make it more competitive with global peers.

• While a second Trump term would likely nix any corporate rate increases, another term for Biden—or if Democrats control one branch of Congress—would mean rate hikes will be part of the conversations.
• Biden’s fiscal 2025 budget would raise the corporate rate to 28%, bringing in an additional $1.35 billion in revenue between 2025 and 2034. But that’s a nonstarter for Republicans. Read more.

A BIPARTISAN SENATE DUO urged the Pentagon to overhaul the way it addresses mergers and acquisitions in the defense industry in order to protect taxpayers and national security. Read more.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN said the White House must stop implementing temporary rules that violate the intent of the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act, including measures on tailpipe emissions. Read more.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN urged Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates, saying the hikes have “completely tanked major renewable infrastructure projects across the country.” Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said rate increases jeopardize the ability to create clean energy jobs and lower electricity costs that are part of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Read more.

People, Power, and Politics

Donald Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy in New Hampshire on Jan. 22. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

DONALD TRUMP ruled out Vivek Ramaswamy as his running mate and is instead eyeing the entrepreneur for a Cabinet job, according to people familiar with the matter.

• Trump personally told Ramaswamy he won’t be his vice presidential pick, according to people briefed on the discussion, but is considering him for posts including Homeland Security secretary.
• Some Trump allies see Ramaswamy as ideal for the job because they say he is a good public speaker and, as a son of an immigrant, could neutralize criticism of immigration restrictions. Read more.

TRUMP wants permission to appeal a Georgia judge’s ruling that Fulton County DA Fani Willis can stay on the state election-interference case despite her romance with a top prosecutor. Read more.

HUNTER BIDEN has rejected an invitation to testify at a public congressional hearing into business activities that are the focus of a faltering GOP impeachment inquiry of his father. Read more.

A SUPREME COURT JUSTICE refused to shield ex-Trump aide Peter Navarro from having to report to prison today, rejecting a request in a case with roots in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Read more.

Defense and Foreign Policy

Joe Biden and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Washington on May 1, 2023. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

ANTONY BLINKEN criticized China’s “provocative actions” in the South China Sea on a visit to Manila, as he reaffirmed the US security commitment to the Philippines. The Secretary of State said today the US and other nations have rallied to support the Philippines after Chinese vessels blocked, closely shadowed and used water cannons on Philippine vessels in the disputed waterway. He also said the world has seen China’s actions in the South China Sea as a violation of international law. Read more.

• Leaders’ Summit: Biden will host Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for the first trilateral US-Japan-Philippines leaders’ summit on April 11, according to a White House statement. Read more.

BIDEN and Benjamin Netanyahu sought to turn down the heat in their public feud over Israel’s war in Gaza yesterday, but there was little sign the domestic pressures that have pushed them apart are easing. After weeks of growing vitriol between the two leaders over Israel’s punishing ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, the American president won a valuable concession in a call with the Israeli prime minister yesterday—their first in more than month.

Netanyahu agreed to send a group of advisers to the US to talk about Israel’s planned invasion of Rafah, where more than 1 million people have sought shelter from the fighting. Read more.

• Blinken will make his sixth visit to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October. Read more.
• Trump said Jews who support Democrats hate their religion and Israel, resurfacing an attack he made as president and playing on an antisemitic trope that Jewish Americans share dual loyalties. Read more.

CUBA received a warning from the Biden administration that human rights must be respected as social unrest builds on the impoverished, communist-run Caribbean island. Read more.

A PAUSE on a Texas migrant deportation law will continue as the Supreme Court extended a temporary hold on a law that would let the state arrest people who enter the country illegally. Read more.

What Else We’re Watching

A PROGRAM to prioritize apprenticeship participants in their contracting decisions could be a catalyst for expanding job training opportunities in industries desperate for high-skilled workers. Read more.

EMPLOYERS are increasingly pegging health prices to Medicare to rein in out-of-control costs when they pay directly for their employees claims. Read more.

To contact the reporters on this story: Brandon Lee in Washington at blee@bgov.com; Jeannie Baumann in Washington at jbaumann@bloombergindustry.com

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kayla Sharpe at ksharpe@bloombergindustry.com; Giuseppe Macri at gmacri@bgov.com