Morning Report — Government funding is a December problem now

Shutdown averted — for now.

Congress on Wednesday passed a three-month stopgap spending bill that will fund the government through Dec. 20, sending the legislation to President Biden’s desk for his signature ahead of the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline. The House cleared the legislation in a 341-82 vote, including support from 209 Democrats and 132 Republicans. All 82 “no” votes came from Republicans. In the Senate, the bill passed 78-18.

In addition to government funding, the legislation provides $231 million in funds for the Secret Service in the wake of two apparent assassination attempts against Trump.

Passage of the package caps off this month’s funding fight in the House. It included a failed attempt by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to pass a partisan stopgap, a push by former President Trump to shut down the government over the absence of a proof-of-citizenship voting bill, and bipartisan negotiations with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that led to the final product.

“Americans can breathe easy that because both sides have chosen bipartisanship, Congress is getting the job done,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday morning. “We will keep the government open. We will prevent vital government services from needlessly coming to a halt. We will give appropriators more time to fully fund the government before the end of the year.”

BUT THIS YEAR’S BATTLE over government funding is not over. There will be another shutdown showdown in December, during the lame-duck period. 

Johnson has vowed that the House will not approve a sprawling omnibus bill, welcome news for conservatives who abhor the measures. But it will be a difficult goal to achieve as he grapples with a razor-thin GOP majority and pressure to fund the government and leave town ahead of the Christmas holiday.

IS IT ALWAYS LIKE THIS? Pretty much yes. Since the advent of the current fiscal year system, Congress has managed to pass all of its appropriations bills on schedule only four times. The last time it happened was for fiscal 1997.

LAWMAKERS ARE DEPARTING Washington to campaign ahead of November’s elections.

A topic for senators to mull during their break: the filibuster. Senators in both parties see the mechanism increasingly at risk as Vice President Harris and Senate Democrats are eyeing big exceptions to the 60-vote threshold for voting rights and abortion rights legislation, writes The Hill’s Alexander Bolton. This has spurred some conservatives to debate jettisoning the filibuster if Trump wins control of the White House and Republicans take back the Senate and keep control of the House.

The Hill’s Emily Brooks and Mike Lillis report Republicans are feeling upbeat about their chances of holding the majority next year and perhaps controlling the Senate and White House, too. But ahead of Election Day, there are political question marks, including the fundraising gap between the House GOP and House Democratic campaign arms.

One unforeseen impediment for the GOP on the campaign trail and Capitol Hill? Sex scandals, write The Hill’s Brooks and Al Weaver. In the past three weeks alone, there have been at least three separate sex-related scandals that have consumed portions of the news cycle and involved Republicans on various scales. This has given lawmakers headaches in the process, especially in their push for a successful electoral result in six weeks. 

“If you’re going to get into this line of work, you better be prepared to have a big, high-powered magnifying glass underneath you,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). “If you don’t, shame on you. Think it through.” 

LEADING THE DAY

© The Associated Press / Jacquelyn Martin | Vice President Harris described elements of her economic proposals Wednesday during remarks in Pittsburgh. 

POLITICS & CAMPAIGNS

“Donald Trump left us with the worst economy since the Great Depression,” Harris told MSNBC during a 25-minute interview Wednesday aimed at challenging voters’ trust in the former president’s handling of the economy. 

Independent data has shown that 188,000 manufacturing jobs were lost during Trump’s term, in part because of the pandemic and the resulting downturn.

Harris used a friendly interview, which unearthed few new details about her governing plans, to criticize Trump. She dismissed his repeated vows to use trade tariffs, if elected, as an economic tool he says could raise revenues, thwart international competitors, pay for proposed tax cuts, underwrite expanded childcare benefits for families and “stop wars.” Economists challenge his assertions about the net benefits of U.S. tariffs.

“He’s just not very serious about how he thinks about some of these issues,” Harris said. “One must be serious and have a real plan that’s not just about some talking point ending in an exclamation at a political rally.”

Harris repeated her pledge, if elected, to sign a bipartisan Senate border security bill that failed to get off the ground this year because of objections by Trump and many fellow Republicans in Congress. Proposed immigration reforms have stalled for decades in the Capitol. 

“We need a comprehensive plan that includes what we need to do to fortify not only our border, but deal with the fact that we also need to create pathways for people to earn citizenship,” Harris told MSNBC.

The vice president heads to the tiny border city of Douglas, Ariz., on Friday to try to blunt Trump’s relentless criticism of her as the architect of a border crisis and immigration policies he argues are “destroying our country.” Recent polling shows Trump with a slight lead over Harris in a state he lost in 2020 by about 10,000 votes. 

At the same time, Harris is struggling to break through with young Latino voters, report The Hill’s Amie Parnes and Rafael Bernal. Trump has continued to make inroads among non-college-educated Latino men, concedes Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha, who helped Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) court Hispanic voters during his presidential bids. 

“Is Trump doing better than he should be doing? Absolutely. It’s not so much that they’re drawn to Trump,” Rocha said. “They’re hearing one candidate talking about keeping jobs in America and draining the swamp while the other party talks about abortion or whatever the social issue of the day is.” 

Pew Research Center: Latino registered voters’ preferences mirror 2020, according to a national survey completed in early September. The economy leads the list of most important issues among this demographic, which is not monolithic.

Harris, who broadened her economic message during a speech Wednesday in Pennsylvania and during Wednesday’s interview, is expected to reinforce her contrasts with Trump during her border visit this week. Her campaign posted a lengthy summary of her “New Way Forward for the Middle Class” economic platform HERE.

ZOOM IN

© The Associated Press / Julia Demaree Nikhinson | Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

U.S. & UKRAINE

Ukraine’s Zelensky arrives in Washington today to outline his vision for victory against Russia amid meetings with Biden, Harris and key leaders in Congress. 

Analysts believe U.S. military and economic backing for Ukraine could take a dramatically different turn in the nation’s capital if both the House and Senate are controlled by Republicans in January and Trump is president. Support for continued aid to Ukraine among conservatives has ebbed, and Trump has suggested that if he’s elected, he’d favor a negotiated end to a war Russian President Vladimir Putin started, rather than the all-out victory Zelensky champions for Ukrainians.

The Associated Press: Trump on Wednesday in North Carolina said Ukraine is “demolished” and dismissed its defense against Russia. 

Zelensky has said his “victory plan,” which he wants to reveal to Biden first, includes Ukraine’s long-term security and geopolitical position. He wants Ukraine to join NATO on an accelerated schedule and has been lobbying the U.S. and other allies to approve Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles to strike deep inside Russia. 

Ukraine’s president is experiencing pressures abroad, but also at home: Polls show increasing Ukrainian fatigue with the war, an erosion of trust in the president and a rise among those willing to consider an end to the fighting without a total victory. 

Zelensky, addressing the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, continued to warn about Russia’s aims and tactics. He said Russiais plotting to use satellites to weaken Ukraine’s nuclear power plants as part of a larger strategy to attack Ukraine’s energy grid in winter. Zelensky urged the international community “to put pressure on the aggressor” and halt any potential attacks. “These are nuclear power plants, they must be safe,” he said (The Hill).

WAR AND POLITICS: Zelensky’s Washington visit is dogged by U.S. domestic tensions over a cliffhanger presidential contest 40 days away.

House Republicans are unhappy with Zelensky following his visit to a Pennsylvania munitions factory that supplies Ukraine, accompanied by Democratic state leaders. Their criticism: The stop amounted to election interference in support of Harris’s presidential campaign. GOP leaders were also unhappy with Zelensky’s comments during an interview about Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Trump’s running mate.

As a result, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) demanded Zelensky fire Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., and a House panel launched an investigation after suggesting Zelensky’s trip to Pennsylvania helped Harris’s campaign. Zelensky indicated he traveled to the factory in Scranton, Pa., to thank workers who are producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his country’s war with Russia.

DIPLOMACY OR MEDDLING? Johnson made his displeasure public Wednesday while navigating the personal discomfort of collaborating with Democrats after months of difficulties within his Republican conference to fund the government temporarily under parameters Trump had opposed.  

The Speaker complained to Zelensky in writing that the trip to Pennsylvania on Sunday was “clearly election interference.”

Johnson issued a demand that Zelensky “immediately fire Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova” (who has held that position for more than two years and conferred regularly with U.S. lawmakers). She cannot “fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country,” he said.

HEALTH & WELLBEING

CHEMICAL LEAK: Hundreds of residents of southwestern Ohio were ordered to evacuate their homes after a chemical leak from a rail car prompted warnings from authorities about a possible explosion. Authorities said a train in Whitewater Township of Hamilton County, Ohio, started leaking styrene, a toxic and flammable chemical, from the pressure release valve. Biden and Harris were briefed on the incident (The Hill and The Washington Post).

ONGOING SHORTAGES of popular weight loss and diabetes drugs have spurred demand for supplies of compounded versions of the drugs. When medications are in shortage, compounding pharmacies are allowed to provide versions to help patients continue receiving care. Major telehealth companies like Hims & Hers and Noom are among those who’ve begun to offer compounded GLP-1s (The Hill). 

ELSEWHERE

© The Associated Press / Bilal Hussein | Israel struck Maisara, north of Beirut, Lebanon, on Wednesday.

INTERNATIONAL

WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST: The U.S., its allies in Europe and several Arab nations on Wednesday unveiled a joint cease-fire proposal to temporarily end the recent deadly fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, hoping to avert a wider war in Lebanon and bolster stalled negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

“It is time for a settlement on the Israel-Lebanon border that ensures safety and security to enable civilians to return to their homes,” Biden said in a joint statement on Wednesday evening with French President Emmanuel Macron. “The exchange of fire since Oct. 7, and in particular over the past two weeks, threatens a much broader conflict, and harm to civilians.”

Officials said there were indications that Israel and Lebanon were supportive of talks that might soon lead to a cease-fire and were hopeful that representatives of their governments would accept the proposal in “the coming hours.”

The proposal comes as Israel’s military chief told troops that Wednesday’s airstrikes were in preparation for a potential ground invasion of Lebanon, following weeks of escalation between the two sides. Israel called up two reservist brigades as it continued to strike targets it said were linked to Hezbollah, and the militant group launched its aerial attacks on Israel.

“You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day. This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah,” the Israeli chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, told Israeli troops at the country’s northern border with Lebanon. “We are preparing the process of a maneuver, which means your military boots, your maneuvering boots, will enter enemy territory.”

DOWNFALL OF THE BROS: As Macron visits Canada, both he and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are grappling with declining popularity and the rise of right-wing movements that challenge their political legacies (Politico).

France24: Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top leaders admitted Thursday that the world’s number two economy was facing new “problems” and vowed to resolve a long-running crisis in the housing sector.

THE CLOSER 

© The Associated Press / Manuel Balce Ceneta | Members of the original cast of “The West Wing,” which ran for seven years, visited the White House last week to mark 25 years since its creation.

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