Biden Heads to G20 While Budget Pressures Build

Key Takeaways
  • G20 summit in India will feature President Biden, but not Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin.
  • Senate returned to DC this week with McConnell voicing continued support for Ukraine.
  • The House is still on break, but conservative House Republicans like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene continue to make demands that will make things harder for Speaker McCarthy in the budget battles looming ahead.

The weekend news is likely to be dominated by the President’s trip to India to attend a G20 summit. Both Presidents Xi and Putin have decided not to attend, which will put an even brighter spotlight on the US President.

The Senate returned this past week but the House remained on the August/Labor Day break. Much attention was focused on Senator McConnell, who largely avoided discussions of his health. However, he was vocal in his support for Ukraine and the potential tug of war between the House and Senate to approve the President’s request for $40B in emergency supplemental funding, likely as part of a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government open after the fiscal year deadline.

The emergency supplemental funding would refill the coffers for FEMA’s emergency relief, money for increased assistance at the Southern border, and the war in Ukraine. The Senate has made clear that the President’s request has strong bipartisan support, but in the House there is growing Republican dissatisfaction with the war in Ukraine. Speaker McCarthy has reportedly floated the idea among House Republicans that they could pass a CR to keep the government open until mid-November and add money for the border and FEMA but not Ukraine. This is unlikely to be acceptable to either the Senate or the White House. Additionally, it is not clear if McCarthy can get 218 Republicans to vote for a CR that funds the government at current-year levels. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has said she cannot support any CR if a Biden impeachment isn’t undertaken. While Rep. Green may be an outlier, it would only take four other Republicans to stop a CR without Democratic support.

The bottom line is that, with only three weeks to go, it seems hard to see how all these issues get resolved in a timely fashion that stops a government shutdown.

Disclosures (show)

Sign in to read the report!

We have detected you are an active member!

Ray: f5fd92-e22639-fa7c92-d9b71b-181f74

Don't Miss Out
First Month Free

Events

Trending tickers in our research