Mike Lee says Senate Republicans will back House GOP in White House debt limit fight

Emily Jacobs

May 08, 02:44 AM May 08, 02:44 AM

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) said on Sunday that the Senate Republican Conference will work to strengthen House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) negotiating position as he attempts to force President Joe Biden to negotiate a debt limit compromise.

Lee collected an impressive 42 signatures, not including his own, from his Senate GOP colleagues for a letter sent Saturday to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that voiced support for pairing a debt limit increase with spending cuts. Asked about the letter, which included Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as a signatory, on WHD News's Sunday Morning Features, Lee said it was "imperative" McCarthy enter the White House "in a position of negotiating power."

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"We’ve got not only the Republican conference in the Senate backing what the Republicans in the House passed the week before last, but we’ve also got a solid bloc of Republicans," Lee said. "[We have] more than enough to block any sort of so-called ‘clean’ debt ceiling bill from going forward, anything that raises the debt ceiling without substantive spending and budgetary reforms."

"Whenever you’ve got 41 senators who are unwilling to bring debate to a close on any legislation, it cannot pass," he added, explaining how 59 yay votes fails reach the 60-vote filibuster threshold. "We’ve now got more than enough to stop exactly the kind of legislation that Joe Biden wants."

Lee went on to say that two other Senate Republicans privately expressed support for the letter but declined to sign "for strategic reasons." Those senators "indicated that they will stand with us in the votes," he claimed, adding that there were "a couple of others who may yet decide to join us yet."

McCarthy was able to hold enough of the House Republican Conference together to pass his debt ceiling budget proposal, which is meant to serve as an opening salvo in negotiations with the White House, late last month. Biden, backed up by Senate Democrats, has stood firm in his refusal to negotiate over the debt limit.

The debt ceiling, or the top amount the federal government can borrow, will either need to be raised or abolished sometime this summer to avert a debt default. Economists have long warned that such a default would wreak havoc on the economy.

McCarthy's legislation pairs nearly $4.8 trillion in deficit reduction measures with a debt limit increase into the next year. The bill would return government agency funding to 2022 levels and cap annual increases at about 1% annually, except for the Pentagon. It would also roll back parts of Biden’s expansive health, climate, and tax laws, expand mining and fossil fuel production, and impose work requirements on social programs.

The White House has decried the bill as an attempt at political "hostage-taking" and vowed that Biden would veto it if it reached his desk, though the likelihood of such legislation passing the Senate, where Democrats control the chamber 51-49, is slim.

Asked if he was confident McConnell and other Senate Republicans would withstand fiscal pressures and hold firm, Lee responded affirmatively, saying, "Even if we lost one or two here or there, we’d still be fine, and I don’t think we’re going to the lose any of them.”

Bipartisan duo looks to force Biden's hand on US-Saudi relations

David Sivak

March 24, 05:10 AM March 24, 05:11 AM

A bipartisan pair of senators is trying to force President Joe Biden's administration to reevaluate its relationship with Saudi Arabia with new legislation targeting the human rights record of the oil-rich Middle Eastern ally.

Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced a privileged resolution this month that would require the State Department to submit to Congress a report on Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses within 30 days. If the administration failed to do so, security aid to the kingdom would be cut off.

The bill is a novel approach to the debate on Washington’s alliance with Saudi Arabia, which Murphy says is not a reliable partner and often works against U.S. national security interests.

The senators, usually ideological foes on Senate legislation, are utilizing a never-before-used provision of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, which would fast-track consideration of the resolution. Under the law, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee would have 10 days to consider the measure before Murphy and Lee can force a floor vote to discharge it from the committee.

Although those 10 days have now passed — the resolution was introduced on March 15 — Murphy says he’s letting the process play out in committee before deciding whether to request a vote.

“We're talking to the committee about their disposition,” he told the Washington Examiner on March 22. “You know, we have the right to bring it before the Senate after 10 days, but the committee can still work on it, you know, after the 10-day period of time.”

Murphy has for years railed against Saudi Arabia for backing the neighboring Yemeni government in a civil war that has killed thousands of civilians. He and Lee say the United States is complicit in those deaths due to its military assistance to the Saudis.

The complaints are a common refrain among Democrats, who argue America’s strategic partnership with the kingdom (which seeks to counter Iranian influence in the region) undermines America’s commitment to advance human rights abroad.

Those concerns reached a fever pitch in 2018 after the gruesome killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, believed to be ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Biden channeled Democratic outrage on the campaign trail, promising to make the kingdom a "pariah." But the president has sought to improve relations with the oil-producing country after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which sent already-high gas prices soaring.

Biden made a trip to Saudi Arabia last summer to lobby for higher oil production by OPEC+. Yet the diplomatic overtures ended after the cartel, led by the Saudis, announced in October it would cut output by 2 million barrels a day, a move that came weeks before the midterm elections.

The White House accused the Saudis of aiding Russia’s war effort by driving up oil revenues and promised to work with Congress to reevaluate America's relationship with the kingdom in its aftermath. But five months later, Murphy says Biden has failed to live up to that pledge.

“The administration has made several public statements about reorienting Saudi policy. I'm disappointed we haven't seen that reorientation,” Murphy said. “And I think it's time for Congress to have a discussion about whether we're going to continue business as usual with a country that doesn't seem too interested in acting like our national security matters to them.”

The senator told the Washington Examiner the Biden administration has consulted with Congress on the topic, including multiple conversations with Murphy himself, but that the dialogue has yet to produce a change in strategy.

“They are very aware of my belief that our policy should have changed,” he said. “But I'll let them speak for themselves as to why they generally kept things on a steady track notwithstanding all of the bad behavior we're seeing every day.”

In addition to requiring an account of Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations, including its crackdown on political dissidents, Murphy and Lee's resolution would require the administration to detail how the U.S. has responded to those abuses and evaluate whether continued military assistance is warranted.

After the report is submitted, Congress would then have the right to pass a joint resolution, privileged at a 50-vote threshold, ending or paring back U.S. military support for the kingdom. To become law, it would have to be signed by the president.

The Biden administration only allows defensive weapons to be sold to Saudi Arabia, and in 2021, it imposed sanctions and visa bans on Saudi agents whom it believes perpetrated the slaying of Khashoggi, penalties that notably exempted the crown prince. Yet Murphy believes the actions are not enough, and he has called for the Biden administration to “right-size” its relationship with Saudi Arabia, a shift that would include a freeze on all new military aid to the kingdom.

It’s a move that Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, himself called for in response to the oil cuts in October.

Yet it’s not clear whether the resolution will get taken up by his panel. “I haven’t seen it,” Menendez told the Washington Examiner. “I’m not sure whether or not it'll get a hearing in the committee.”

Asked about the timing of the measure, Murphy hinted that recent positive developments in the U.S.-Saudi relationship, such as last week’s release of a dual national imprisoned for tweets critical of the crown prince, may delay its consideration. Murphy does not expect it to come before the Senate before the April 3 recess.

This is not the first time Murphy has partnered with Lee, a constitutional conservative who says the president does not have the authority to insert the U.S. into Yemen’s civil war.

In 2019, the pair sponsored legislation to end America’s involvement in the conflict that made it all the way to the White House. Then-President Donald Trump, who stood by the crown prince despite Khashoggi's death, vetoed the resolution, saying it was an “unnecessary, dangerous attempt” to weaken the office of the president.

GOP senator will never assist gun violence reduction invoice right up until he sees textual content

Max Thornberry

June 19, 03:07 PM June 19, 03:07 PM

A single Republican mentioned he thinks most products in a proposed gun violence reduction monthly bill are “unobjectionable,” but he will not say in which he stands until eventually there is textual content to chat about.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) instructed Shannon Bream on Sunday that he’s stunned there has not been any tough documentation to appear out of the discussions to deal with gun violence. A 7 days right after 20 Democrats and Republicans mentioned they experienced a framework to deal with gun violence, lawmakers nonetheless do not have any created proposal, Lee stated.

“The difficulty that we have below is that we do not have a invoice,” Lee reported. “I personally refuse to indicate whether or not I — or how I will vote on a bill right up until right after I’ve seen the textual content, for the reason that there are a lot of matters that can go incorrect in laws.”

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The team of 20 senators introduced they experienced an settlement on a invoice that would incorporate steps to fund psychological wellness products and services, improve history checks for gun purchasers, boost school means, and carry out red flag laws. Lee said all those suggestions and others mentioned by the bipartisan group audio fantastic, but there isn’t a clear definition about what some of people proposals entail without having a composed invoice.

“Now, I know there's some invoice text which is possibly been created,” Lee stated. “But on the most contentious, controversial, probably impactful provisions, there is no language. Devoid of that language, you just can't determine no matter whether it is Alright.”

Transferring forward without getting a text to review would be harmful, Lee said.

“The critical thing right here is, you have to be careful each time a little something like this transpires that we not legislate below the heat of the moment, beneath great emotion, without the need of looking at the textual content and figuring out what we're doing,” Lee stated. “We need to have to be watchful that we not punish law-abiding People in america for the wrongs carried out by the criminally minded and the insane.”

Initial polling on options proposed by the bipartisan group suggests men and women are supportive of the proposed actions. Bream reeled off some of the Fox polling to Lee, mentioning that much more than 80% of voters approve of increased history checks, switching the legal age for obtaining an AR-style semiautomatic weapon from 18 to 21, and employing crimson flag legal guidelines.

Nonetheless, when poll respondents may be supportive, there is still main opposition from some Republicans.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the guide Republican in the bipartisan negotiations, felt the wrath of his constituents very last week for his job in the conversations. When he appeared at a Texas Republican Get together convention on Friday, he was greeted by boos.

Some persons chanted, “No pink flags,” and, “Don’t get our guns,” in accordance to some reports.

Although Lee is hesitant to line up behind the bipartisan group, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reported very last 7 days that he supports the bipartisan framework. Having said that, McConnell’s backing is contingent on the bill’s textual content lining up with the bipartisan group’s proposals.

“If the legislation ends up reflecting what the framework suggests,” McConnell reported, “I’ll be supporting it.”