Fate of Next Spending Deal Lies With Pelosi, Mnuchin
House speaker, Treasury secretary maintain good rapport amid tensions between Trump administration and Democrats
By Kate Davidson and
Andrew Duehren
Nov. 24, 2019 7:00 am ET
WASHINGTON—When Congress returns from its Thanksgiving break, lawmakers will have just three weeks to come up with a detailed agreement on funding for more than a dozen federal agencies, or risk a government shutdown days before Christmas for the second year in a row.
To help negotiate a path forward, the administration is deploying Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to work with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), according to two administration officials. It is an unusual remit: Past Treasury secretaries have played a role in budget negotiations, but discussions over detailed spending legislation are typically led by the Office of Management and Budget.
While OMB is closely involved, Mr. Mnuchin has emerged as the public face of the administration on Capitol Hill in the spending talks, which took a positive turn this weekend even as impeachment strains the broader relationship between the two branches. Mr. Mnuchin’s role speaks to the rapport and goodwill he has built up with lawmakers and, in particular, Mrs. Pelosi, current and former administration officials said.
“People see that he’s close to the president. They know he’s less of an ideologue,” said Stephen Pavlick, head of policy at Renaissance Macro Research and a former Trump Treasury aide. “And, just because of his longevity in an administration that has had a lot of turnover, he’s somebody who’s been there and will probably be there for a while.”
Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Mnuchin forged a working relationship over the summer, when the pair negotiated an agreement to lift the government’s borrowing limit and set overall spending levels for the next two years.
Over the course of several weeks, the two spoke on the phone almost daily, focusing on specific provisions in the deal rather than ideological or political disagreements, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
“They respect each other and they also understand that they have a job to do,” a senior administration official said of Mr. Mnuchin and Mrs. Pelosi. “They’re both there to represent their position, but they’re also there to do the work of the American people and get this budget deal done.”
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Dave Grubb
...Ben
...Ben
