How Long Can They Keep The Government Open?
Senate Dems plan a busy lame duck. W. Post: "... including bills to revive dozens of expired tax breaks and avoid a government shutdown for another year. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) is also aiming to chip away at a backlog of presidential nominations to the federal bench and the State Department over the next month, although Democratic aides say they will be unable to process all of the hundreds of pending appointments before turning the chamber over to Republicans."
Parties jockey on length of funding bill. The Hill: "A senior Democratic aide said the Senate Appropriations Committee fully expects to pass an omnibus spending package that would run the government through September 2015, and asserted there is no talk of moving a short-term funding measure that would let the new Senate GOP majority re-negotiate spending levels early next year ... The House, however, will also have a say in whether Congress moves an omnibus spending package, a year-long stopgap funding measure or a short-term continue resolution. It’s possible that Republicans will agree to a longer-term spending bill that would stick to the spending caps included in the two-year budget deal..."
"Projected rise in defense costs could bust budget caps" reports The Hill: "Spending on national defense could increase by 20 percent over the next 15 years, according to a report released Thursday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The CBO said that projected rise in defense spending would 'significantly exceed' the funding set in current budget caps and could eventually trigger automatic sequester cuts."
Can GOP Control Its Caucus This Time?
Politico Magazine sizes up the task before Speaker Boehner: "If Boehner had trouble controlling an all-too-unified Tea Party insurgency after 2010, now he and the GOP leadership might find that what they face is more like herding cats. A lot of very loud and impolitic cats. In recent years, strident conservative voices in the House, such as Michele Bachmann and Steve King, have often caused party leaders embarrassment ... Now there could well be as many as 10 or 20 Bachmanns coming to Washington."
"Republicans Warn Obama of Trouble on Immigration" reports Bloomberg: "Top Republicans will meet with President Barack Obama today after warning him that changing U.S. immigration policy without involving Congress would invite 'big trouble' and make a future compromise impossible ... If the president does that, 'he will poison the well and there will be no chance for immigration reform moving in this Congress,' Boehner told reporters..."
Obamacare's employer mandate may be targeted. NYT: "Dropping that requirement would not significantly affect the number of Americans with coverage, researchers at the Urban Institute said ... Mr. Obama said Wednesday that he could not accept repeal of the individual mandate. But he did not make such a statement about enforcement of the employer mandate ... Representative Michael C. Burgess, Republican of Texas and chairman of the Congressional Health Care Caucus, said, 'I would be surprised if the president vetoed repeal of the employer mandate.'"
Breakfast Sides
"Bank of America's Surprise Profit Is Wiped Out Amid Currency Probes" reports Bloomberg: "Bank of America Corp. cut third-quarter earnings by $400 million, wiping out the surprise profit it reported last month, as the firm braced for the end of probes into foreign-exchange dealings. U.S. regulators faulted systems and controls for currency trading and called for fines and remedial actions in draft documents sent late last month..."
Liberal groups pledge to keep focus on Kochs. Politico: "...despite Republicans — and some Democrats — publicly decrying the strategy after Tuesday’s GOP wave as an ineffective waste of money, Reid told allies on election night that he planned to continue hammering the brothers ... And big-money liberal groups ranging from the Democrats’ Senate campaign arm and House super PAC to the outfits run by billionaire Tom Steyer and conservative-turned-liberal enforcer David Brock all signaled that they intended to pursue anti-Koch spending and oppo tactics headed into the 2016 election."
