From France, where he's meeting with G-7 finance leaders, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have reached a top-line agreement for a two-year deal on both spending levels and a debt limit extension. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, or his deputies, are apparently also on board.
"The good news is we've reached an agreement between the administration, the House and the Senate on top-line numbers for both year one and year two," Mnuchin said on CNCBC. "We're now discussing offsets as well as certain structural issues. And we’ve agreed as part of that deal there would be a long-term, two-year debt ceiling increase." He also left open the possibility of a stand-alone debt ceiling extension before Congress recesses for the August break, July 26 for the House and Aug. 2 for the Senate. Those top-line numbers haven't been leaked. Pelosi has pushed for increasing spending limits under the Budget Control Act by $356 billion over the next two years, in addition to flexibility for increases for overseas military spending, funding for 2020 census preparation, and veterans' care.
For her part, Pelosi just says talks have to wrap up by Friday night so that there's enough time to post legislative text for a floor vote next Thursday. "When we have an agreement we'll write it up, and we have to do all of that by Friday evening," Pelosi told reporters. "We're in a good place. We know what we need to do." Thus far, they've apparently set aside hot-button issues of abortion, the Hyde Amendment, and Trump's border war. Pelosi has insisted on new spending for veterans' services, and there is an apparent deal there.
The problem is going to be the House maniacs who have a powerful ally in Trump. While Mnuchin says they've got the negotiations in hand, some other senior White House official is anonymously undercutting that, saying, "The reality is, we have a way to go." Because no one ever knows what Trump will do. Senate Republicans are reportedly doing their bit by trying to jolly him along to support the agreement. Trump whisperer and No. 1 sycophant Lindsey Graham says he told him, "It's in everybody's interest after this recent [shutdown] debacle to show you can actually govern the country," while golfing with Trump last weekend. "I think he got that," he added. Ok, okay.
This is just fucking pathetic. And not a little bit terrifying. "There's some pretty good optimism right now. But it could all blow up," one anonymous Republican senator tells Politico. "If we get a deal, I'm going to call him immediately and tell him: 'Mr. President, this is brilliant.' Because we need to start reinforcing before" the people such as his right-hand man Mick Mulvaney and his Freedom Caucus buddies get to him to tank it. That's a very real fear, everyone seems to agree. Even Mulvaney is reportedly "operating under the assumption that Trump will agree to whatever is presented to him by the Treasury secretary unless Mulvaney takes an issue with the deal." Which is a very real concern, "a number of GOP sources" told Politico.
It's entirely possible that Trump's going to be too preoccupied with inciting his rabid followers into a race war to be distracted by something as mundane as keeping the government running and securing the nation's solvency. So that might not become a crisis. Or it might. No one knows. Because there is an actual madman in the Oval Office.