From Fox News:
FOX NEWS - You can almost hear the baritone affectations of news anchor Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show: “And in other news…”
The dramatic testimony of former FBI Director James Comey commanded most of the attention this week on Capitol Hill. But believe it or not, other stories unfolded in the halls of Congress.
House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa., is making his second run to privatize the nation’s air traffic control system. Shuster ran into opposition from his own party last time. The bill never hit the floor. This round, Shuster appeared at an event for “infrastructure week” at the White House and earned President Trump’s support.
“That’s going to help immensely,” gleamed Shuster, who suggested the House would advance his plan “in July.”
That may be Shuster’s goal. But there’s concern over a push to raise the federal debt ceiling before Congress leaves town at the end of July for the traditional summer recess. The debt ceiling struggle consumed Congress in July and part of August in 2011. It halted work on virtually any other issue.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Congress recently that lawmakers should hike the debt limit before cutting town. Mnuchin wants a “clean” debt limit increase. That means Congress simply votes to up the threshold without any attachments like offsets. Budget Director Mick Mulvaney would like to latch spending cuts or other policy provisions to any potential increase.
Such legislative “sweeteners” may be essential to coax reluctant lawmakers – especially conservative Republicans – to vote in favor of piling on more debt.
“The Treasury Secretary is and should always be the person in charge of debt-limit negotiations, debt-limit legislation,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., apparently picking sides against former House colleague Mulvaney. But Ryan says he isn’t “forecasting any option” on how to grapple with the debt ceiling, including working with “Democrats and the other side of the Capitol in the Senate.”
While most eyes were trained on Comey’s testimony Thursday morning, Mnuchin huddled with House Republicans on tax reform and the debt ceiling. Mnuchin said the meeting was “good.” But the sides are far from consensus. Some Republicans advocate hooking the debt limit plan to the tax reform bill and moving the package without Democrats. A “sweetener” like tax reform could bolster the chances of Republicans voting for the package. Otherwise, Republicans may have to turn to Democrats.
“Democrats are not going to cooperate with us on anything. So if we have to do a debt ceiling increase along with tax policy, that would seem to me to be a pot-sweetener for some of the conservatives that will be otherwise reluctant to vote for a debt ceiling increase,” said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, after the Mnuchin session.
“Nobody likes to raise the debt ceiling, including myself,” said House Small Business Committee Chairman Steve Chabot, R-Ohio. “You hope to get some reforms in there. If you can get something big like simplifying the tax code, that would be a big one.”
Mnuchin joined National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn for a meeting Wednesday with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky., and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Everyone refused to comment on what was even discussed in the conclave. Hatch offered that it was a “typical” meeting – although some question what constitutes a “typical” meeting in Washington these days. But that didn’t stop scribes from asking what they talked about.
“Shame on you,” said Hatch in response to the badgering press corps.
Mnuchin declined to “comment on the specifics.”
But when asked where they stood on tax reform, Cohn briefly stopped in the hall and declared “we’re on schedule.”
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