Week ahead: Lawmakers scramble to avoid another shutdown

Stop us if you’ve heard this before.

Lawmakers will return to Washington with five days to extend government funding beyond March 23. The most recent short-term funding bill passed by Congress runs until Friday, and lawmakers are grappling with dozens of requests to throw other measures into a longer-term deal.

Congress is aiming to pass a bill to extend funding through the rest of the fiscal year with an “omnibus,” a combined package of several smaller spending bills. Lawmakers aimed to release the deal on Wednesday, but now expect to release it early in the coming week.

The funding bill is the last major legislation that needs to pass before the November midterm elections. And that has lawmakers scrambling to add whatever pet provisions they can in a last-ditch bid to get policies enacted.

{mosads}

Rep. Nita Lowey (N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said negotiators were making headway in the process of weeding out contentious riders deemed to be non-starters. But they’ve hit an impasse in recent days, she said, with the talks stalled and roughly 50 controversial provisions remaining.

“There was progress, we were moving along, and then it locked down,” Lowey told The Hill as she left the Democrats’ weekly caucus meeting in the basement of the Capitol.

Lowey wouldn’t specify which issues are currently holding up the talks. But in a sign of some progress, Lowey said that there are “about 50 poison pills left” — a drop from the more than 100 “poison pills” she said remained a week ago.

Among the contentious issues that have hamstrung negotiations are provisions targeting Planned Parenthood, possible fixes for problems dogging the new GOP tax law, funding for low-income subsidies under ObamaCare, the expansion of background checks for gun sales, new money for President Trump’s proposed border wall and tougher enforcement of immigration laws.

Lawmakers are also split over finding a long-term agreement on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Democrats and some Republicans are pushing to cement protections from deportation for certain young immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children. But the White House and GOP immigration hawks insist on boosting border security, securing funding for Trump’s border wall and slashing legal immigration quotas in exchange.

Congressional Republicans are open to including a three-year immigration fix in the upcoming omnibus spending package but are awaiting clear direction from the White House.

On Wednesday, the White House floated a “three-for-three” approach to Congress, which would extend DACA protections for three years in exchange for three years of border wall funding.

The White House later ruled out that specific approach, but left the door open to some compromise on border wall funding and DACA.

Tariff showdowns: The Capitol will host another contentious showdown when Trump’s top trade officials testify before lawmakers.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will appear Thursday before the Senate Finance Committee, where he’s expected to face questions from the panel about Trump’s plan to levy hefty tariffs on imports of aluminum and steel.

“I have made clear that tariffs are nothing but a tax on American businesses and consumers and I look forward to discussing with Ambassador Lighthizer how the administration can mitigate the damage they cause,” said Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

Lighthizer and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will also appear before the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday and Thursday, respectivley.

Fed watch: The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) will start its two-day March meeting on Tuesday, and is expected to raise interest rates on Wednesday. It would be the first monetary policy decision made under new Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, though a March rate hike had been expected for months before his swearing-in.

The Fed in January kept the interest rate range between 1.25 and 1 percent, an attempt to coax low inflation toward the bank’s 2-percent target before increasing the pace of rate hikes. It was the last time the FOMC met under former Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who had called for slow and steady increases in rates.

Powell is expected to maintain the same mindset after voting in lockstep with Yellen on monetary policy since joining the Fed in 2012. January’s better-than-expected jobs report and higher inflation readings exacerbated fears on Wall Street that the Fed would raise rates more than the three times the bank had projected.

Your week ahead:

Tuesday:

• House Financial Services Committee: Hearing entitled “Exploring the Financial Nexus of Terrorism, Drug Trafficking, and Organized Crime,” 10 a.m.

Wednesday:

• House Ways and Means Committee: Hearing on U.S. trade policy with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, 10 a.m

• Senate Budget Committee: Hearing on the 2018 economic report of the president with Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Keith Hassett, 10 a.m.

• Federal Reserve announces monetary policy decision, 2 p.m.

Thursday:

• House Ways and Means Committee: Hearing with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, 9 a.m.

• Senate Finance Committee: Hearing on U.S. trade policy with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, 10 a.m

Recap the week with Overnight Finance: 

• Monday: Senate advances changes to Dodd-Frank rollback | Trump blocks Broadcom deal | Trump trade adviser’s influence grows | Ryan tries to keep tax cuts in spotlight | Rumors swirl over Cohn replacement

• Tuesday: Hensarling not holding talks on Senate Dodd-Frank bill | McConnell says vote to block Trump tariffs ‘unlikely’ | Trump talks up Kudlow | Major financial industry groups to combine

• Wednesday: Senate passes bill to rollback Dodd-Frank | Trump names Kudlow to replace Cohn | Former Equifax exec charged with insider trading
• Thursday: House threatens to freeze Senate Dodd-Frank rollback | New Russia sanctions | Trump vs. Trudeau on trade | Court tosses Obama financial adviser rule

In case you missed it:

• Dem super PAC launches ad defending Donnelly on taxes, by Naomi Jagoda
• Lighthizer set to testify before Senate Finance on trade next week, by Vicki Needham
• Mnuchin spent $1 million on military flights, says watchdog, by Niv Elis
• GOP chairman: House won’t vote on Senate bill to loosen Dodd-Frank unless senators negotiate, by Sylvan Lane
• Republicans insist tax law will help in midterms, by Alexander Bolton

Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@digital-stage.thehill.com, vneedham@digital-stage.thehill.com, njagoda@digital-stage.thehill.com and nelis@digital-stage.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane,  @VickofTheHill, @NJagoda and @NivElis.