WH Hit From Left and Right On Border Crisis
Obama spars with Republicans over spending ask. McClathcy: "Several Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee chastised the administration for reacting late to the border situation and expressed skepticism that Obama’s $3.7 billion plan will work ... Despite disagreements, there appears to be some common ground ... Republicans have urged Obama to dispatch the National Guard to the border – something that the president said he would consider ... [They] agree that a 2008 anti-sex trafficking law that bolstered protections for children not from Canada and Mexico who enter the U.S. unaccompanied is partially responsible for the surge at the border and should be altered.
And with Democrats over policy changes to expedite deportations. The Hill: "Obama has asked Congress to amend the 2008 William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act to let him send them home more quickly but has met with stiff resistance from senior Senate Democrats ... [Sen. Dick] Durbin said he would not support changing the law unless the unaccompanied minors are guaranteed proper representation. He also wants U.S. officials to ensure there are social infrastructures that can take care of them in their home countries ... 'If we follow the [current] law, they’ll get due process,' Leahy said of child immigrants from Central America. 'One of the things that this country stands for is human rights.'"
Reid pushes for leaving out policy changes in initial bill. The Hill: "'My preference would be to pass the bill [as a] stand-alone bill. It’s emergency spending,' Reid said. “...We can go after the coyotes, we can go after the drug cartels and we can take care of these children.' ... Congressional Republicans have called for pairing the emergency spending with changes to a 2008 human trafficking law ... The White House has also asked Congress for expanded authority ... but did not include that in its supplemental spending bill request."
Pro-immigration reform Republican gives up after one last plea to Boehner. CNN: "'Today I was informed by the Republican leadership that they have no intention to bring this bill to the floor this year. It is disappointing and highly unfortunate, because we have a unique opportunity to secure the borders, fix our broken immigration system, and strengthen our economy,' [Rep. Mario] Diaz-Balart said at a press conference at the Capitol."
Little In Boehner Lawsuit
Boehner's proposed lawsuit only mentions Obamacare. W. Post: "House Republicans released a draft of a resolution Thursday evening authorizing litigation against President Obama over executive actions he took to alter the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act ... not other executive actions by Obama ... The litigation will argue that by suspending the start date of the employer mandate, Obama operated outside of his constitutional power."
"House Republicans Will Sue Obama Because He’s Not Implementing Obamacare Fast Enough" notes ThinkProgress' Igor Volsky.
An odd choice, says TNR's Brian Beutler: "It's actually pretty likely that the provision in question will go into effect before Boehner's legal challenge is resolved one way or another. At the end of the day, by his own reckoning, Boehner may ultimately have zero grounds upon which to sue the president, whose brazen lawlessness Republicans treat as self-evident."
Obamacare unquestionably reducing number of uninsured. Politico: "...The law is not just covering people who already had health coverage, but adding new people to the ranks of the insured ... A survey by the Commonwealth Fund found that 9.5 million fewer adults are uninsured now than at the beginning of the Obamacare enrollment season. The Urban Institute’s Health Reform Monitoring Survey found a similar drop, with 8 million adults gaining coverage. And Gallup-Healthways survey reported that the uninsured rate has fallen to 13.4 percent of adults, the lowest level since it began tracking health coverage in 2008."
Obama re-nominates recess appointment for NLRB. Bloomberg: "President Barack Obama will nominate Sharon Block to the National Labor Relations Board ... Block, a former deputy secretary at the Labor Department and aide to deceased Democratic SenatorEdward Kennedy of Massachusetts ... Block likely will face an easier road in the Senate this time. Under rules the chamber adopted last year, the minority party no longer can block nominations by requiring 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to proceed with the confirmation process..."
Movement On Highway Trust Fund
House and Senate committees advance different versions of highway trust fund extension. NYT: "Both the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee plans defer the larger issue of finding a way to keep the trust fund solvent over the long run, and instead would provide $11 billion to keep money flowing until about May ... [The House] relies on three provisions: extending customs fees on importers that otherwise will expire, taking money from a separate trust fund for leaking underground storage tanks and changing rules on private pension contributions ... [The Senate] would use those three provisions as well. But [Finance Chairman Ron] Wyden trimmed back the pension provision and made up the lost revenue with a series of measures intended to force better compliance with existing tax law."
Bloomberg adds: "The Senate version also doesn’t set an expiration date, and Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said the Congressional Budget Office hadn’t estimated how long the money would last."
The Hill sees final deal emerging: "The two measures rely on similar provisions to provide roughly the same amount of money ... In agreeing to that approach, Senate Democrats also bowed to pressure from the House GOP, which has been pushing to extend funding through next May. Democrats had sought a shorter-term deal that would have only extended funding until shortly after November’s election, a time frame they thought would give Congress the best chance to hash out a long-term transportation agreement."
Senate GOP Embraces Ex-Im
Senate poised to pass Ex-Im Bank reauthorization. The Hill: "Senate Republicans are signaling broad support in their caucus ... Still, the legislative path for a bill remains murky, even with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) saying he expects a bill to pass the Senate before the start of the August recess. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), the leader of the House Financial Services Committee, is a vocal critic of Ex-Im, and it remains unclear when — or if — he will move forward with legislation."
But enviros oppose. The Hill: "Friends of the Earth, Sierra Club and Greenpeace said Thursday they are working on letters to Obama and the Senate asking that they oppose the bill. They oppose Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) proposal because it would block standards adopted by the bank last year preventing it from providing financing for power plants unless they adopt carbon capture technology."
