Conservatives flex muscle in House

Conservative Republicans made a clear show of strength Tuesday just ahead of a major battle over fiscal 2011 appropriations by forcing House leaders to abruptly pull a trade bill from the schedule.

Though it has largely flown below the political radar, the measure to aid workers whose jobs or wages are harmed by imports was to have been one of the more significant bills to come before the House this year and the first to test the unity of the Republican conference, which is among the largest and most conservative in its history. That Republican leaders were unable to rally support for the bill signaled trouble ahead for the new House majority in reaching consensus on upcoming spending and budget matters as conservatives push for immediate spending cuts that go far beyond anything that Senate Democrats or President Obama might abide. Halting progress on the bill was not the only victory House conservatives captured Tuesday. At a pen-and-pad session with reporters, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., also signaled support for inserting language into a fiscal 2011 spending bill that would prohibit funding for last year’s health care overhaul (PL 111-148, PL 111-152). “I expect to see, one way or the other, the product coming out of the House to speak to that and to preclude any funding to be used for that,” Cantor said, referring to the health care overhaul and in an apparent bow to pressure from Republican conservatives. The trade legislation would extend Trade Adjustment Assistance programs (TAA) that expire Feb. 13, along with specific tariff reductions. The assistance programs provide aide and training to workers who lose their jobs or see their hours or wages reduced due to increased imports. While the TAA program has traditionally received a level of bipartisan support, the conservative Republican Study Committee, representing about two-thirds of the GOP conference, outlined several concerns in its legislative bulletin Tuesday morning, stressing that conservatives had voted to eliminate the program in the past. The RSC noted that the program was expanded as part of the 2009 economic stimulus law (PL 111-5) and argued that it picks “winners and losers” by singling out workers affected by increased imports for “extra generous treatment” by the government. The group called the program duplicative, overly expensive and ineffective. Trade adjustment benefits have long been used as a way to build support for free-trade agreements. The RSC argues that recent TAA extensions have been enacted as part of an implicit agreement that stalled trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama would be advanced; so far, none of those agreements has won congressional approval. Many Republicans, under pressure from conservative activists, remain reluctant to advance TAA without a commitment from the administration to send all three pending trade deals to Congress for approval — not just the deal with South Korea. The cancellation of Tuesday’s vote left the bill’s prospects unclear. Brad Dayspring, Cantor’s spokesman, said Republicans believed it was necessary “to have a further discussion about the legislation.” But Dayspring declined to say whether the bill would be brought to the floor with enough time to send it to the Senate before the TAA benefits expire at week’s end. Speaking for Democrats who consider the bill to be must-pass legislation, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said early Tuesday that he hoped to clear the bill by Thursday. Later in the day, a Senate Democratic leadership aide said that the Senate could “try to move something via consent on Thursday” even if the House doesn’t act by then. The aide added that an agreement with the House was “still possible” by that time. Cantor’s pledge to allow conservatives to offer an amendment addressing health care to the upcoming bill to fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year did not completely satisfy all RSC members. Many prefer it to be part of the bill. But Cantor expects any language dealing with health care probably to be added to the spending bill as a floor amendment, his aides said. Cantor has consistently promised to allow lawmakers to offer amendments to the bill that would make further spending reductions, but his comments Tuesday suggested that at least a health care amendment could win the support of a majority in the House. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, a member of the RSC, welcomed Cantor’s commitment but is among those who would prefer that health care language be included in the spending bill that Republican leaders bring to the floor. King noted that an amendment to add language to bar funding of the health care overhaul (PL 111-148, PL 111-152) is more likely to face procedural obstacles if it is an amendment. Republican leaders are expected to bring to the floor next week the bill funding the government for the remaining seven months of the fiscal year. The current stopgap spending bill (PL 111-322) is scheduled to expire March 4. Egged on by their large freshman class, GOP leaders have vowed to try every route available to repeal or “de-fund” the health care law. But the Democratic Senate will probably counter them at every turn. On Jan. 19, the House voted 245-189 to pass a repeal (HR 2) of the health care overhaul. Every Republican voted in favor of the repeal, while only three Democrats did so. In the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., offered a health care repeal amendment to pending legislation (S 223) to reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration programs. That amendment failed, 47-51, on a party-line vote Feb. 2. Although House appropriators are still working out the specifics of their upcoming spending bill, Republican leaders have signaled that it would cut $41 billion from current non-security spending levels and $32 billion overall.

Sam Goldfarb and Joseph J. Schatz write for CQ. Frances Symes and Brian Friel contributed to this story.

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