After a long recess, Members of Congress returned to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.
Congress is under a microscope as another government shutdown looms.
And the latest battle over the budget is beginning to heat up.
New coronavirus funding, oil and gas permitting in the spotlight
Joe Biden has requested a whopping $22 billion in new money for coronavirus relief.
The GOP says that this new funding is a nonstarter if it’s going to be part of the new government funding package.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wants some of the money to be used to help make the oil and gas permitting process more streamlined in order to make Democrats not appear to be completely anti-oil ahead of the Midterms.
As you might imagine, a large portion of House Democrats are saying “no” to the proposition.
Democrat House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raul Grijalva of Arizona is leading the charge against the oil and gas provision.
He stated the resistance is because America is currently dealing with “existential threats like climate change and MAGA extremism.”
It’s not quite clear how “MAGA extremism” relates to getting more oil and gas flowing and lowering costs for Americans.
Despite the pushback, Schumer is continuing to press on, as this is part of a deal Schumer made with Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who agreed to support the administration’s new $739 billion tax hike to “combat climate change” in exchange.
Many Democrats aren’t happy about their side deal and feel like it was only agreed upon between Schumer and Manchin alone.
Socialist Squad Member Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan says that Manchin went back on his word to get Build Back Better done, and “we owe him nothing now.”
A stalemate is likely
As the Democrats bicker over how to handle the oil and gas permitting dilemma, Republican lawmakers plan to oppose any more funding for the coronavirus.
Republican Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma said that the administration needs to be “fully transparent about funds spent and balances remaining.”
Anyone with common sense would agree that the government owes the people more transparency about what they’re doing with their tax dollars.
Yet members of Biden’s administration claim the new spending is needed to send even more free at-home coronavirus testing kits to the masses, which literally no one needs.
$18.4 billion is slated for the Department of Health and Human Services, and $4 billion is supposed to go toward containing and managing COVID-19 on a global scale.
With coronavirus cases on the decline, Republicans don’t feel that any additional funding is needed, particularly with a large sum of money still sitting unspent from the massive stimulus plan put in place last year.
Let’s not forget the billions of dollars sent to Ukraine and even more billions allocated to combat monkeypox.
With so much money at stake and so many dollars wasted, it won’t be a surprise if lawmakers come to a standstill, which could lead to a government shutdown after the Midterms.
US Political Daily will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
