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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday he expects Congress will not pass any annual spending bills this year, saying lawmakers will likely postpone that responsibility until President Bush is out of office. “I anticipate we will do a continuing resolution to get us until Sen. [Barack] Obama becomes president,” Reid said, referring to the Illinois senator and Democratic presidential candidate.
Reid’s statement, while not unexpected, adds a note of finality to speculation that the Senate would act on the 12 annual appropriation bills. He also said that he doesn’t expect Congress to return for a post-election, lame-duck session. Under that scenario, Congress would only be in session for another six weeks this year.
Reid left some wiggle room to make a deal on funding for the Pentagon and military construction, but even those could slip until next year, he said. For the other bills, he said, “we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Democrats have little incentive to try to approve more than $1 trillion of domestic discretionary spending this year. They are expected to expand their majority in Congress, and if Obama wins the White House, they will be better positioned to dictate how to spend federal dollars. Plus, pushing the bills through could expose members to politically sensitive amendments on taxes and spending on the eve of the November election.
But holding off on Congress’s fundamental responsibility would almost certainly open Democrats up to attacks of not doing their basic job.
The White House has threatened to veto any bills over Bush’s limit, which is about $21 billion less than what Democrats have proposed. Last year, Democrats caved to Bush’s demands after a protracted fight. Manu Raju contributed to this article.
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