House Speaker Paul Ryan is failing spectacularly at the one thing a former Budget Committee chair should be able to do: crafting a budget. But he's in good company, because the Senate Republicans are failing, too, and they don't even have the excuse of a bunch of maniacs holding things up.
With the budget stalled in the House, Senator Michael B. Enzi, the Wyoming Republican who leads the Budget Committee, announced on Monday that his panel would be putting off any action on a budget for at least this month and probably beyond.
Congress can get by without a formal budget this year since the overall spending levels for 2017 were set in a deal reached last December. But not coming to an agreement when Republicans control the House and the Senate will be an embarrassment, particularly since the leadership has been promising to restore “regular order.” Not to mention the fact that first-year Speaker Paul D. Ryan was once a celebrated Budget Committee chairman. It would also deny Republicans a chance to employ a special filibuster-proof procedure on legislation covering taxes and health care because the process can be initiated only through budget approval.
Meanwhile, Democratic leader Harry Reid's team are pressuring Mitch McConnell and his team to follow through on the budget deal they reached last year and stick with the spending levels established in it. Since Republicans hammered Democrats relentlessly for years over not passing budgets, it's fitting turnabout.
Reid and team also reminded McConnell that there just isn't much time in this election year for the process, saying they are in a "race against a Senate calendar that is unusually abbreviated" by the campaign season this fall. Because McConnell isn't under enough pressure already because of his Supreme Court blockade. Harry Reid is definitely making the most of his last months in the Senate, doing his utmost to make sure that the 2017 Senate is back in Democratic hands.
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