Supplemental Bill to Reach Senate Next Week
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said the the war supplemental funding bill will come up before the Senate next Wednesday. From the Politico:
“We know there is enough money to fund the troops for a considerable period after the Memorial Day recess,” Reid said. “We want to get [the bill] done. And we’ll do our best to get that done, but we’re not going to be pushed into doing something we don’t think is appropriate.”
Meanwhile, the White House has been threatening to veto bills that add additional domestic spending.
Meanwhile, White House budget director Jim Nussle weighed in Thursday with renewed veto threats against rival House and Senate Iraq funding bills, saying the add-ons for veterans and an extension of unemployment benefits were unacceptable. “To just pile them into the troop funding bill because the troop funding bill is necessary is a cynical process that the president has already been very clear about — the fact that he would veto,” Nussle told The Associated Press.
Additionally, certain “blue dog” Democrats are also opposing additional spending in the supplemental, if it’s not paid for with tax increases or other cuts.
In this environment, hoped-for science funding in the supplemental is not looking particularly likely. We’ll see what happens when the bills make it to the floor in the coming week.
