“We have to get the full complete bills passed,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, who has made the case for millions in funding for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. “I do not want to see those important funds for our community lost.”
With 10 weeks until a Sept. 30 funding deadline, the House will do nothing on the 10 unfinished government funding bills until after Labor Day, as members aren’t due back on Capitol Hill until Sept. 2.
Some Republicans were miffed at their leadership’s decision not to even try to finish more funding bills before starting a summer break.
“Not surprising,” tweeted U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy, who added on a picture of Lucy yanking the football away from Charlie Brown.
“I’m certainly hopeful that both the Congress and the White House see the importance of us finishing our work before the end of the year,” Turner added.
This week’s early departure on Capitol Hill was also clouded in controversy for the GOP, as most legislative business was postponed by House Republican leaders amid fears that Democrats would force more votes about the sex trafficking case of Jeffrey Epstein.
Republicans found themselves between a rock and a hard place. Many of their voters have long demanded more information about the Epstein investigation — but President Trump has ridiculed it as a “hoax.”
GOP lawmakers decided their best course was to do nothing and just send members home early.
“They literally shut down Congress to avoid even a vote to release the Epstein files,” said U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Cincinnati (whose district includes Warren County).
Some Republicans say they would like answers about the Epstein probe from Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said earlier this year that she had an Epstein list of clients on her desk but later said no list existed.
“I think the right thing is to get Pam Bondi in and get an explanation,” said Davidson.
When House members return to Capitol Hill after Labor Day, they will have four weeks to figure out a funding plan in order to avoid a shutdown.
Some in Congress want to alter that deadline, to make it easier to reach a final funding deal for the next year.
Turner has a bill which would achieve that by aligning the fiscal year calendar — currently October through September — with the regular yearly calendar of January through December.
“The Congressional calendar should not end in September,” the Miami Valley Republican said in an interview. “It should end in December.”
Supporters argue a change like that could reduce the need for short-term funding extensions in the fall and cut down on the number of threatened government shutdowns.
But for this year, the end of September deadline remains. Congress has not passed all of its funding bills on that timeline since 1996.
No current member of the Ohio delegation has ever seen Congress get its funding work done on time.
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