Lacking Sufficient Support, House GOP Leaders Delay ‘Cromnibus’ Vote

Too many Republicans were prepared to vote “no” because the Feb. 27 sunset date for the Department of Homeland Security was not enough to pacify concerns that the cromnibus contained no language to explicitly bar President Barack Obama from implementing his immigration executive orders.
Roll Call
By Emma Dumain and Matt Fuller Posted at 2:16 p.m. Dec. 11

Unsure that the votes are there to pass a trillion-dollar federal spending package, House GOP leaders have delayed a final vote on the “cromnibus” Thursday afternoon.

They have done so with mere hours to go until the government is set to shut down, and just before the House was scheduled to vote.

GOP leaders have called a recess to floor proceedings, and sources say that they could soon call an emergency conference meeting to discuss next steps.

They could decide to proceed with swiftly moving a short-term continuing resolution through the chamber, which the Senate could also pass before 11:59 p.m., when current funding expires.

In doing so, they would be throwing away months of hard-fought negotiations between appropriators and dashing dreams of a return to “regular order” when the GOP takes control of all of Capitol Hill in the new year.

But House GOP leadership may have few other options. After barely winning a procedural vote to bring the spending bill to the floor for full debate and consideration, they realized they would be allowing the bill to come to the floor at the peril of not having enough votes for passage. Too many Republicans were prepared to vote “no” because the Feb. 27 sunset date for the Department of Homeland Security was not enough to pacify concerns that the cromnibus contained no language to explicitly bar President Barack Obama from implementing his immigration executive orders.

Hopes that Democrats would be able to make up for the short-fall have also dimmed as the minority party fought back “poison-pill” policy riders rolling back the financial regulatory overhaul laws known as “Dodd-Frank” and loosening some campaign finance rules.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., defied the White House’s call to pass the cromnibus during a scathing floor speech in which she said she was “enormously disappointed” with the Obama administration.
Aides said part of the reason for the recess was to give Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer a chance to whip votes on the Democratic side.

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