On Wednesday, in Washington, with a 48-50 vote, the United State Senate rejected the Administration’s rescission bill. In addition to questions about proposed cuts to certain programs, a number of legislators from both parties were concerned that the move could have long-term repercussions, and endanger future bipartisan cooperation on any spending bills.
As reported in our May 11 Issues Alert, the President had asked Congress to rescind monies for certain programs, which were funded in the March bipartisan compromise. That agreement prevented a government shut-down. Both Houses had to approve the $15.4 Billion (later scaled back to $14.7 Billion) claw-back request within 45 days or the monies would remain in the 2018 spending plan. The House had approved the request, but the Wednesday Senate vote prevents the cuts.
This was the largest single rescission request, ever, and the first such initiative in nearly 20 years. It was expected to be the President’s first such request. But others are likely to follow as previous press reports have estimated that the Administration hopes to claw-back $60 billion in total.
We remain worried that Amtrak Gateway funding could be jeopardized in future requests.
Contact: Jon Moran, Senior Legislative Analyst, jmoran@njslom.org, 609-695-3481, Ext. 121.