Congress Threatens Public with Government Shut Down as COVID-19 Cases Reach Record LevelsTo avoid a government shutdown on December 11, the U.S. Congress now has less than a week to pass either their giant $1.4 trillion omnibus budget bill or a stop-gap continuing resolution. In conditions where COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths are at record highs, the inability of Congress to pass a budget is a horrific threat to the public. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers, many critical to providing health and welfare services, could be laid off and services in general curtailed. The National Defense Authorization Act, which provides $740 billion yearly for war, has also not passed. It has readily passed for the past 59 years, every year with large majorities -- an indication of the common support among the rulers for U.S. wars of aggression and interference abroad.
The dysfunction serves to underscore that the concentration of arbitrary power in the Office of the President is also not solving problems. Trump's threats to veto bills is a main factor in the current confrontation and reflect his efforts to strengthen executive powers over budget matters. He has threatened to veto these three bills before Congress dealing with budgetary matters if they do not include his demands. Even Senate head Mitch McConnell, a key Trump ally, drew this conclusion -- speaking to Congressional representatives McConnell said, "I like to remind everybody that the way you get results is, you have to have a president's signature." In 2018 Trump's refusal to sign the budget bill triggered the longest government shutdown to date. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (Alabama) indicated December 2 that a "stop-gap" continuing resolution looks likely for the budget. A "stimulus" bill may also be included in such a measure. However the White House has said it will not guarantee Trump will sign such a bill and avert a shutdown. A new proposal for $908 billion in "stimulus" funding is now being discussed, far less than the $2.2 trillion passed in a House bill but not debated in the Senate. The new proposal does not include any direct funds for individuals, $300 instead of $600 per week for extended unemployment funds and none of the related funds for protective gear and testing. McConnell and the White House are calling for only $332.7 billion. Budget bills had been a means to divide public funds among the contending monopoly forces to lessen conflicts -- another mechanism that no longer functions. For the National Defense Authorization Act, a 4,500-page "conference report" which reconciles the Senate and House bills and allows for no amendments, has now been released. It is expected to pass both Houses this coming week. It reflects differences, including within the Republican coalition, on issues like maintaining troops in Germany and Afghanistan, renaming military bases honouring Confederate Generals and the use of unidentified federal forces against demonstrators. Trump has continued to say he will veto it. Another issue Trump has raised is eliminating a portion of a federal law known as Section 230. It protects companies like Facebook and Twitter from liability for posts by their users. Conflict over how and whether such internet giants should remove or censor content, or mark it as "in dispute," has increased with the election conflict and Trump's repeated claims of fraud. The conference report does not eliminate Section 230 and Republicans are saying "230 has nothing to do with the military." Senator Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma), the Republican Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said it was not part of the bill. This is an indication that alliances within and between Democrats and Republicans and Congress and the president operate more like coalitions -- both contending and coalescing -- and are fluid rather than fixed.
(Voice of Revolution. Photos: California Nurses Assn, SEIU)
This article was published in Article Link:   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
There has been no
progress on providing funds for COVID-19 relief. Failures on all fronts
underline that conflicts among the rulers remain unresolved and that
service to what constitutes "the public" and the conception of "public
good" and what constitutes "public interest" are obsolete.
Whether or not one or another
of these bills passes, the dysfunction of Congress and the usual
mechanisms for resolving conflicts -- such as dividing the budget, and
the election itself -- remain. COVID-19 relief for the public is
urgent. But in terms of politics and political relations of governance
-- which include public needs and provide for negotiations to reach
settlements -- there has been nothing since the Coronavirus
Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) back in
March. Even agreement on ensuring that $455 billion in remaining funds
from the CARES Act reach the public is not possible. Add in Trump's
efforts to further undermine Congress as a legislative body while
usurping more power for the presidency and it is evident that the
existing set-up can only bring more crises and dysfunction. It is the
people, left out of the equation in all these conflicts, who are
decisive in bringing about the changes needed for new governing
institutions that put the people and their rights, at home and abroad,
at the centre.