Congress Attempts to Pass a Two-Year Spending Bill

Playbook: “Yes, this bill averts a shutdown, but that’s only a tiny sliver of what it does. It sets the stage to boost spending by roughly $300 billion over the next few years. It kicks in another at least $80 billion in disaster spending — even most Texans seem pleased, at the moment. And it suspends the debt limit until March 2019 — basically, telling Congress it can spend whatever amount of money it wants between now and then. That’s a big win for Republicans who don’t want to have to vote on the debt limit again before the midterm election.”

“The Senate is expected to take up — and pass — this bill in the early afternoon. They’ll probably pass this bill with 70-plus votes, and then leave town for the weekend.”

“Per Usual, the House is where this gets tricky. In order for this to pass, it will need to attract significant support from Democrats and Republicans alike. On the Republican side: we’ve heard estimates that anywhere from 120 to 150 Republicans will vote yes (the House has 238 Republicans). That would mean that, on the low end, roughly 70 Democrats would need to vote yes. (There are 193 Democrats.)”