Activists representing veterans are outraged after GOP lawmakers blocked a $278 billion bill intended to help veterans suffering health ailments from exposure to toxins. Starting Thursday, they are staging a sit-in on the steps of the Capitol to draw attention to the Republican opposition.
The legislation originally passed the Senate in June by an 84-14 vote, and Republican senators are struggling to explain why they are now keeping the same bill on the Senate floor.
Jon Stewart, the former “Daily Show” host who for years acted as an activist for veterans and first responders, has relentlessly blasted the GOP for its stance, drawing a barrage of media attention to the issue.
Stewart took delight in disparaging conservative Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in a recent video in which he responded point-by-point to Cruz’s objections to the bill. He called Cruz’s arguments “inaccurate, not true, bullshit” and ended the video with footage of Cruz punching a colleague after the legislation failed on the floor last Thursday.
Republicans admit that the standoff is not a good look for them three months before a crucial election and that they take most of the blame for the impasse on the bill.
Asked if Republicans were to blame, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a combat veteran, said, “Yes, and it’s unfair.”
Now Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), predict the bill will pass this week even if they cannot amend it, signaling they are ready to move on from the politically damaging match.
GOP senators insist they support the substance of the bill, but oppose what they say is an accounting gimmick that will likely add to future budget deficits.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), whose home state has one of the highest numbers of veterans per 100,000 residents, said strong Republican support for the bill was demonstrated by the bipartisan vote to pass it in June.
“I want to see the PACT Act pass,” Daines said in reference to the Honoring Our Pact Act.
He said he and other Republicans agreed to support Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R-Pa.) objection to the bill because “Sen. Toomey raised a reasonable question about how funding works.”
Toomey, a leading Republican voice on budget issues, says the bill designates the $400 billion the Department of Veterans Affairs is set to spend over the next decade to help veterans exposed to toxins as mandatory spending. Traditionally, these expenses are classified as discretionary, meaning they must be included in the annual discretionary spending caps.
Toomey, who is not running for re-election this year because he is retiring from the Senate, argues that switching to the mandatory side of the book will give Congress flexibility to fit other spending programs under the annual budget caps.
“That’s the problem with this bill, that’s the fiscal gimmick, that’s the outrageousness,” Toomey said on the floor recently. “It allows this spending to move from the discretionary category to the mandatory category of spending.
“By moving this big category of spending, that $400 billion, out of the discretionary category and into mandatory, you create this big hole under [budget] cap,” he added. “Guess what’s going on with that big hole? It’s filled with spending on who knows what.”
The problem for Senate Republicans, however, is that it is not easy to explain to the American public why this is a deal-breaker.
It was complicated by the fact that 34 Republicans voted in favor of the bill six weeks ago, even though that version of the bill also designated funding for new veterans as a mandatory expense.
Stewart in the video responding to Cruz and other Senate GOP critics said, “There was no fiscal gimmick and it was always mandatory and when they voted in the Senate on June 16, they actually got 84 votes.” Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough warned in an interview with CNN over the weekend that Toomey’s amendment could lead to “guaranteed care for vets” because it would put “a cap from year to year” on what the his department to help veterans who are suffering. from exposure to burn pits.
Republicans have also been criticized by Democrats for their motivation to block the bill.
Several Democrats see it as retaliation for a separate deal worked out last week by Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.). This fiscal reconciliation package is a top priority for Democrats and operates under special fiscal rules that prevent a GOP filibuster.
After 25 Republicans who had previously voted yes on the veterans bill voted no on a measure to advance it last week, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (DN.Y.) accused them of “keeping our service members hostages for the sake of politics.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) accused them of plotting revenge after learning of the Schumer-Manchin climate and tax deal.
“Republicans are mad that Democrats are on the verge of passing climate change legislation and have decided to take out their anger on vulnerable veterans,” he told Vox.com.
Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who led the debate, said it’s “a very bad decision by Republicans.”
Democratic aides say Schumer offered Toomey a vote on an amendment related to setting mandatory spending six weeks ago, but 34 Republicans still voted for the bill, even though that amendment never happened.
In other words, even many of Toomey’s GOP colleagues were unwilling to block the popular bill for the arcane debate on mandatory and discretionary spending earlier this summer. That changed when Democrats announced a major deal on climate and taxes.
But now Republicans are being forced to play defense and offer convoluted explanations for why they are holding up the veterans bill.
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Republicans endorsed Toomey last week, but are poised to end the standoff soon.
“Some of our members are saying, ‘Toomey has been talking about this for several weeks in our meetings, let’s try to fix it.’ Whip John Thune (SD).