Republicans Set to Cave on Demands

Republicans may hold strong majorities in both chambers of Congress, but they are on the verge of capitulating yet again to President Obama and Democrats in their annual charade of  budget brinkmanship.

Congress must pass a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill by Friday to avert a government shutdown. To create a bill that will not be vetoed by Obama, Republicans appear likely to sacrifice two of their most pressing issues — blocking Syrian refugees and defunding Planned Parenthood — on the altar of compromise.

Just weeks ago, these were the biggest issues in Washington and the campaign trail. Now they appear ready for the junk pile.

Desperation is growing among concerned conservatives who see the spending bill as their last chance to block Obama’s dangerous and misguided refugee resettlement ambitions.

“The loopholes in the screening of immigrants from hotbeds of terrorism are being exploited and the administration opposes closing them,” Rep. Brian Babin of Texas said Wednesday evening in an appeal for action on the House floor . “This House has one chance with the end of the year appropriations bill to end these dangerous policies.”

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Babin, a member of the Freedom Caucus, and 72 of his colleagues in the House, along with Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., in the Senate had initially sought to block funding altogether for Obama’s plan to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees in the U.S.

That measure didn’t pass muster with the House Republican leadership. The leadership’s approach has instead been to include the language from the enhanced refugee screening bill that passed last month in the House with a near veto-proof majority, but which failed to advance in the Senate.

As of Wednesday, this language was in the omnibus bill.

“I can’t say, with the negotiations, which are ongoing, whether the Syrian refugee bill will be pulled out of that,” said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas.

By the end of the day, it appeared less likely that the language would remain in the bill, as the threat of an Obama veto looms.

Language to restrict the Visa Waiver Program, which currently allows citizens from 38 countries to travel to the U.S. visa-free for 90 days at a time, will likely make the cut. However, this is something the White House has already endorsed, and it’s a pale shadow of the language to defund the Syrian refugees, so it cannot be seen as a victory.

Momentum to defund Planned Parenthood, another marquee goal of Republicans, has also fizzled out. Further abortion restrictions are on the negotiating table but also face a similar threat of an Obama veto.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Senate minority whip, said it would cause “all hell to break loose” if abortion language were included.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Senate minority whip, said it would cause “all hell to break loose” if abortion language were included.

In all, there are as many as 42 controversial “policy riders” that negotiators are trying to iron out.

The Congressional Budget Office, meanwhile, released new estimates showing that federal tax revenue, spending and the budget deficit all increased during the first two months of fiscal year 2016 compared to the first two months of 2015.

Revenue and expenditures were up by 3 and 6 percent, respectively, year over year, while the $200 billion budget deficit was $22 billion larger than 2015.

The White House has repeatedly lashed out at Republicans for allegedly gumming up the appropriations process.

“It’s the responsibility of Congress to step forward and do their job and pass a budget for the U.S. government on time,” said Obama spokesman Josh Earnest. “That is going to require Republicans in Congress abandoning their ongoing effort to advance their ideological agenda through the budgetary process.”

On funding for Planned Parenthood and Syrian refugees, Earnest seems to have successfully given Republicans their marching orders.