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December 17
Set As Target Adjournment
As the end of the 111th Congress draws
near, Democrats will be focusing on three major initiatives over the
next week and a half: potentially altering and voting on the tax cut
compromise reached between President Obama and Republicans earlier
this week, ratification of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
(START) with Russia, and approving legislation to fund the federal
government through September 30, 2011.
The House is expected to pass a continuing resolution (CR) later
today that would fund government for the remainder of the 2011 Fiscal
Year (FY11), which began on October 1, 2010 and ends on September 30,
2011.
Normally, CRs continue funding at the previous year's levels.
However, House Democrats have created a type of hybrid CR that
Republicans are calling an CRomnibus, that allows a greater amount of
flexibility in the realm of security spending for the Departments of
Defense and Homeland Security.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are still trying to push for an omnibus
bill, which combines all remaining FY11 bills into one giant piece of
legislation. And while that bill would have a higher price tag
than a CR, Democrats are trying to win Republican votes by scaling
back funding to bring it in line with Republican proposals floated
earlier this year. The effort is expected to fail and a CR
adopted by the end of next week.
The fate of the tax cut deal between Republicans and President Obama
that extends all 2001 cuts for two years is in some doubt after
liberals continued their chorus of criticism of the President for
capitulating to Republicans.
The Senate is seeking a change to the estate tax provision. In
the compromise, there is a $5 million exemption carved out. In
the middle class extension proposal forwarded by Senate Finance
Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) that was defeated last weekend, Mr. Baucus
set the estate tax exemption at $3.5 million. Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-KY), however, has said that Republicans see their
deal with Obama as non-negotiable and are unlikely to allow any other
legislative business to occur if the tax cut deal fails.
The more serious challenge to the compromise could come from the
House, where a majority of Democrats may oppose the measure because
it extends cuts for the top income brackets and because of deficit
concerns. All Republicans are expected to support the plan,
which would then require 25 House Democrats' votes to succeed.
House Democrats are deferring to the Senate to act first on the tax
cut deal to decide how to proceed, and President Obama has dispatched
Vice President Joe Biden to drum up Democratic support for the deal.
Finally, Senate Republicans have promised the votes necessary to
ratify the START treaty as soon as Congress extends the tax
cuts. The Senate has also scheduled cloture votes on
immigration reform and a 9/11 first responders bill, but those votes
are likely to fail.
If you have any questions concerning
these issues, please contact Chris Wagner at 202.772.0924 or cwagner@clarkhill.com.
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