AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks to the chamber for a vote on a government spending bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 27, 2021.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators blocked a bill Monday night to keep the government operating and suspend the debt limit to avoid a default, but Democrats aiming to avert a shutdown are likely to try again — at the same time pressing ahead on President Joe Biden’s big plans to reshape government.
The efforts are not necessarily linked, but the fiscal yearend deadline to fund the government past Thursday is bumping up against the Democrats’ desire to make progress on Biden’s expansive $3.5 trillion federal overhaul.
It’s all making for a tumultuous moment for Biden and his party, with consequences certain to shape his presidency and the lawmakers’ own political futures.
Success would mean a landmark accomplishment, if Democrats can helm Biden’s big bill to passage. Failure — or a highly unlikely government shutdown and debt crisis — could derail careers.
“You know me, I’m a born optimist,” Biden told reporters Monday, as he rolled up his sleeve for a COVID-19 booster shot. “We’re gonna get it done.”
In Monday night’s vote, senators voted 50-48 against taking up the bill, well short of the 60 “yes” votes needed to proceed. Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer switched his “yes” to “no” at the end in order to allow Democrats to reconsider the bill later.
With days to go, Democrats are likely to try again before Thursday’s deadline to pass a bill funding government operations past the Sept. 30 fiscal yearend, stripping out the debate over the debt limit for another day, closer to a separate October deadline.
Meanwhile, the real action is unfolding behind the scenes over the $3.5 trillion measure, with Biden and his Democratic allies in Congress seeking a once-in-a-generation reworking of the nation’s balance sheets.
From fee pre-kindergarten and child care subsidies for families with small children to dental care and hearing aids for seniors with Medicare, there’s a lot in the president’s proposal — all to be paid for with higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
With Republicans solidly opposed, Democrats are rushing to trim the total and win holdouts within their own party.
Building on a separate $1 trillion bipartisan public works package that’s already cleared the Senate and is heading for a House vote, Biden is seeking major spending for health care, education and efforts to tackle climate change. The total price tag, he contends, is actually “zero” — covered by the expected increase in tax revenue.
He is personally calling fellow Democrats in Congress an effort to resolve differences and bring his sweeping domestic policy vision forward.
Ticking off the weighty list of goals to accomplish, Biden said: “If we do that, the country’s going to be in great shape.”
But Republicans say it’s real spending that can’t be afforded, and a reflection of the Democrats’ drive to insert government into people’s lives.
And so far, the bill is also too big for key Democrats whose votes are needed in the face of the GOP opposition. Two Democratic holdouts, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, have said they won’t support a bill of that size. Manchin has previously proposed spending of $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion.
With all Republicans opposed, Democratic leaders can’t spare a single vote in the 50-50 Senate, relying on Vice President Kamala Harris to break a tie to pass the eventual package.
All this, as other deadlines swirl this week to pay for government operations and allow more borrowing or risk a devastating federal shutdown or debt default — though those dire scenarios appear unlikely.
The bill Senate Republicans rejected Monday night would have funded government operations temporarily, to early December, while also providing emergency funds for Hurricane Ida and other disaster relief and for Afghan refugees in the aftermath of the 20-year war.
Republican leader Mitch McConnell rejected that approach because Democrats also included a provision to suspend the debt limit, which would allow continued borrowing to pay off the nation’s bills.
Once a routine matter, raising the debt limit is now a political weapon of choice wielded by Republicans to attack Democrats — even though both parties have been responsible for piling on debt.
“The Democrats will do the responsible thing—the right thing, the thing that has been done for decades by both parties—and vote yes,” said Majority Leader Schumer ahead of the vote
Schumer called the Republican opposition “unhinged.”
McConnell has said he wants to fund the government and prevent a devastating debt default, but wants to force Democrats to split the package in two and take the politically uncomfortable debt ceiling vote on their own.
“Republicans are not rooting for a shutdown or a debt limit breach,” he said.
Thursday is a new deadline of sorts, and Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Schumer won some breathing room after Pelosi postponed Monday’s planned vote on the public works bill to Thursday, which is also the expiration date of transportation programs in the public works bill.
As Pelosi huddled privately Monday with House Democrats, the more difficult action now lies in the Senate, as Democrats are under pressure to amass the votes for Biden’s package.
Pelosi said Sunday it seems “self-evident” that the price tag will come down to meet the concerns of remaining lawmakers.
Her comments reflected the enormous stakes for the coming week, one that could define the Biden presidency and shape the political contours of next year’s midterm elections.
Democrats have only a few votes to spare in the House for Biden’s massive agenda. Some Republican senators did back the $1 trillion public works bill, but now House Republicans are objecting, saying it is too much.
While progressives say they have already compromised enough on Biden’s big bill, having come down from a bill they originally envisioned at $6 trillion, some are also acknowledging the more potential changes.
Biden’s proposal is to be paid for by increasing the corporate tax rate, from 21% to 26.5% on businesses earning more than $5 million a year, and raising the top rate on individuals from 37% to 39.6% for those earning more than $400,000 a year, or $450,000 for couples.
While Democrats are largely in agreement on Biden’s vision — many ran their campaigns on the longstanding party priorities — stubborn disputes remain. Among them are splits over which initiatives should be reshaped, including how to push toward cleaner energy or to lower prescription drug costs.
Associated Press writers Hope Yen and Alan Fram contributed to this report.
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Lux Blue / Shutterstock
For many Americans, the federal government’s packages to stimulate the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic are notable for the direct relief they have offered to individual households, like stimulus checks and expanded unemployment benefits. But these bills have also brought unprecedented levels of federal investment into state and local governments.
One of the major features of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, passed in March of this year, was a $350 billion fund for states, territories, cities, counties, and tribal governments across the nation to supplement their own revenues. The package also included large pots of funding for areas like health, education, infrastructure, and others that are funded through state and local dollars. The American Rescue Plan followed the $2.2 trillion CARES Act from March 2020 and other pandemic relief packages that offered aid for similar purposes.
The aid provided to state and local governments in the COVID-19 stimulus bills was intended to ward off cutbacks to public services at a time when many observers feared that tax revenues would collapse as a result of the pandemic’s economic fallout. But while COVID-19 created additional urgency for federal support to states, the federal government has long played an important role in supporting state budgets.
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Photo Credit: Lux Blue / Shutterstock
For many Americans, the federal government’s packages to stimulate the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic are notable for the direct relief they have offered to individual households, like stimulus checks and expanded unemployment benefits. But these bills have also brought unprecedented levels of federal investment into state and local governments.
One of the major features of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, passed in March of this year, was a $350 billion fund for states, territories, cities, counties, and tribal governments across the nation to supplement their own revenues. The package also included large pots of funding for areas like health, education, infrastructure, and others that are funded through state and local dollars. The American Rescue Plan followed the $2.2 trillion CARES Act from March 2020 and other pandemic relief packages that offered aid for similar purposes.
The aid provided to state and local governments in the COVID-19 stimulus bills was intended to ward off cutbacks to public services at a time when many observers feared that tax revenues would collapse as a result of the pandemic’s economic fallout. But while COVID-19 created additional urgency for federal support to states, the federal government has long played an important role in supporting state budgets.
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
For most of the last two decades, federal funding has represented more than 20% of all state and local government revenue in the U.S., according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. In nominal dollars, federal investment in the states is more than 2.5 times what it was at the start of the millennium, rising from $292 billion in 2000 to $762 billion in 2019. And as in the Great Recession, when federal investment increased dramatically both in dollars and as a share of state revenues due to the $787 billion stimulus plan under Obama, these same figures are likely to spike again when the pandemic stimulus packages are taken into account for 2020 and 2021.
Open-ended grants to states like the $350 billion fund in the American Rescue Plan are rare, and instead, federal dollars flowing to the states typically fund particular programs, like Medicaid or income assistance, or to grants that can only fund certain priorities, like transportation, education, or economic development. These dollars are usually meant to supplement state funds, particularly in states with fewer economic resources (and as a result, lower tax revenues) or larger groups of people who qualify for public assistance programs.
For most of the last two decades, federal funding has represented more than 20% of all state and local government revenue in the U.S., according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. In nominal dollars, federal investment in the states is more than 2.5 times what it was at the start of the millennium, rising from $292 billion in 2000 to $762 billion in 2019. And as in the Great Recession, when federal investment increased dramatically both in dollars and as a share of state revenues due to the $787 billion stimulus plan under Obama, these same figures are likely to spike again when the pandemic stimulus packages are taken into account for 2020 and 2021.
Open-ended grants to states like the $350 billion fund in the American Rescue Plan are rare, and instead, federal dollars flowing to the states typically fund particular programs, like Medicaid or income assistance, or to grants that can only fund certain priorities, like transportation, education, or economic development. These dollars are usually meant to supplement state funds, particularly in states with fewer economic resources (and as a result, lower tax revenues) or larger groups of people who qualify for public assistance programs.
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
Because federal funding is structured in this way, some states are more heavily dependent on federal dollars than others. Pre-pandemic, eight states took in more than 30% of their revenues from federal dollars. Southern states like Louisiana, Kentucky, and Mississippi, which have some of the largest numbers of people living in poverty and qualifying for various federal aid programs, are among the most dependent on federal funding. Some rural states with small populations, like Montana and Alaska, have a limited tax base that makes federal support more important to their budgets. And along those lines, another important factor in reliance on federal aid is a state’s political leanings: more conservative states tend to have lower taxes and levels of public spending, which means they may fund a greater proportion of their budgets with federal money.
To determine the states most dependent on federal aid, researchers at Commodity.com calculated federal funding as a share of total state and local government revenue using the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances. In the event of a tie, the state with more federal funding per person was ranked higher.
Here are the states most dependent on federal aid.
Because federal funding is structured in this way, some states are more heavily dependent on federal dollars than others. Pre-pandemic, eight states took in more than 30% of their revenues from federal dollars. Southern states like Louisiana, Kentucky, and Mississippi, which have some of the largest numbers of people living in poverty and qualifying for various federal aid programs, are among the most dependent on federal funding. Some rural states with small populations, like Montana and Alaska, have a limited tax base that makes federal support more important to their budgets. And along those lines, another important factor in reliance on federal aid is a state’s political leanings: more conservative states tend to have lower taxes and levels of public spending, which means they may fund a greater proportion of their budgets with federal money.
To determine the states most dependent on federal aid, researchers at Commodity.com calculated federal funding as a share of total state and local government revenue using the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances. In the event of a tie, the state with more federal funding per person was ranked higher.
Here are the states most dependent on federal aid.
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 25.6%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,359
- Total federal funding: $15,931,783,000
- Total state revenue: $62,345,742,000
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 25.6%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,359
- Total federal funding: $15,931,783,000
- Total state revenue: $62,345,742,000
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Henryk Sadura / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 25.6%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,425
- Total federal funding: $24,171,800,000
- Total state revenue: $94,423,525,000
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Photo Credit: Henryk Sadura / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 25.6%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,425
- Total federal funding: $24,171,800,000
- Total state revenue: $94,423,525,000
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Mihai_Andritoiu / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 25.7%
- Federal funding per capita: $1,842
- Total federal funding: $12,687,675,000
- Total state revenue: $49,301,966,000
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Photo Credit: Mihai_Andritoiu / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 25.7%
- Federal funding per capita: $1,842
- Total federal funding: $12,687,675,000
- Total state revenue: $49,301,966,000
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 27.2%
- Federal funding per capita: $3,342
- Total federal funding: $2,083,514,000
- Total state revenue: $7,665,670,000
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 27.2%
- Federal funding per capita: $3,342
- Total federal funding: $2,083,514,000
- Total state revenue: $7,665,670,000
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Real Window Creative / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 27.7%
- Federal funding per capita: $4,163
- Total federal funding: $2,423,952,000
- Total state revenue: $8,765,832,000
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Photo Credit: Real Window Creative / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 27.7%
- Federal funding per capita: $4,163
- Total federal funding: $2,423,952,000
- Total state revenue: $8,765,832,000
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 27.9%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,489
- Total federal funding: $12,251,463,000
- Total state revenue: $43,860,663,000
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 27.9%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,489
- Total federal funding: $12,251,463,000
- Total state revenue: $43,860,663,000
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Mark Skalny / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 29.7%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,365
- Total federal funding: $17,553,381,000
- Total state revenue: $59,016,577,000
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Photo Credit: Mark Skalny / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 29.7%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,365
- Total federal funding: $17,553,381,000
- Total state revenue: $59,016,577,000
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 30.2%
- Federal funding per capita: $3,663
- Total federal funding: $7,715,923,000
- Total state revenue: $25,517,327,000
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 30.2%
- Federal funding per capita: $3,663
- Total federal funding: $7,715,923,000
- Total state revenue: $25,517,327,000
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 30.3%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,694
- Total federal funding: $8,165,669,000
- Total state revenue: $26,989,530,000
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 30.3%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,694
- Total federal funding: $8,165,669,000
- Total state revenue: $26,989,530,000
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 30.4%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,966
- Total federal funding: $5,292,991,000
- Total state revenue: $17,438,498,000
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 30.4%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,966
- Total federal funding: $5,292,991,000
- Total state revenue: $17,438,498,000
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 31.4%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,941
- Total federal funding: $8,726,251,000
- Total state revenue: $27,796,883,000
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 31.4%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,941
- Total federal funding: $8,726,251,000
- Total state revenue: $27,796,883,000
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 31.8%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,854
- Total federal funding: $12,780,283,000
- Total state revenue: $40,238,628,000
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 31.8%
- Federal funding per capita: $2,854
- Total federal funding: $12,780,283,000
- Total state revenue: $40,238,628,000
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Felix Mizioznikov / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 32.3%
- Federal funding per capita: $3,146
- Total federal funding: $14,616,011,000
- Total state revenue: $45,271,357,000
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Photo Credit: Felix Mizioznikov / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 32.3%
- Federal funding per capita: $3,146
- Total federal funding: $14,616,011,000
- Total state revenue: $45,271,357,000
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Marcus Biastock / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 32.7%
- Federal funding per capita: $5,420
- Total federal funding: $3,963,195,000
- Total state revenue: $12,106,780,000
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Photo Credit: Marcus Biastock / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 32.7%
- Federal funding per capita: $5,420
- Total federal funding: $3,963,195,000
- Total state revenue: $12,106,780,000
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Senate Republicans block bill that would avert government shutdown, avoid debt default
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Photo Credit: Mihai_Andritoiu / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 34.0%
- Federal funding per capita: $3,219
- Total federal funding: $3,477,855,000
- Total state revenue: $10,222,926,000
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Photo Credit: Mihai_Andritoiu / Shutterstock
- Federal funding as a share of total state revenue: 34.0%
- Federal funding per capita: $3,219
- Total federal funding: $3,477,855,000
- Total state revenue: $10,222,926,000
