The House came through

Conservatives Seethe As House Passes Debt Deal Trump Struck With Dems

House passes Trump deal on majority Democratic vote

The House on Friday cleared a short-term measure to avoid a government shutdown and raise the debt limit through December, ratifying a deal President Trump struck with Democrats.

Lawmakers voted 316-90 for the package that includes more than $15 billion in disaster recovery aid for communities affected by Hurricane Harvey. 

The majority of House Republicans voted for the bill, something that had been uncertain, but more of the votes in favor came from Democrats.

All of the 90 votes in opposition were from Republicans.

The House voted earlier in the week to approve a standalone measure to provide federal assistance for Harvey relief in an overwhelming 419-3 vote. 

But many conservatives balked at the final bill, which became a three-month extension of the debt ceiling with no spending reforms.

During a meeting in the Oval Office this week, Trump rejected a proposal from Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to extend the debt limit for 18 months so that lawmakers wouldn’t have to deal with the thorny issue again until after the 2018 midterm elections.

Democrats, who sought to maximize their leverage knowing GOP leaders would likely need their votes to avoid a default, insisted on a three-month extension. 

Despite protestations from GOP leaders, Trump went with the offer from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

For Ryan and McConnell, a longer lifting of the debt ceiling would have protected them from future blackmail by the Dems, sure.

But perhaps equally importantly it would have protected them from blackmail by their own loony right, which clearly aims to use the issue to try to force its own will on the GOP leadership and thence onto the Congress and government as a whole.