WASHINGTON–The only thing certain on Capitol Hill right now is uncertainty, according to advocates for credit unions in Washington.
The lack of certainty was cited several times during a call with the media when the status of ending the partial government shutdown and other issues were discussed.
“Congress has left us with a fair amount of uncertainty,” said America’s Credit Unions President and CEO Scott Simpson, referring to the ongoing partial government shutdown and other legislation related to addressing affordability.
“The one bright spot for us is in these moments of uncertainty there an opportunity where credit unions absolutely shine and deliver on the philosophical reasons that we exist in delivering certainty to our membership,” said Simpson.
No Path Forward
Brad Thaler, head of regulatory advocacy for America’s Credit Unions, noted that last week both the House and the Senate headed into recess by passing different measures related to funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), measures that were so different the two sides could not agree on a path forward.
Thaler said President Trump’s executive order that Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees be paid will remove some of the “pressure” to get a deal done even though no deal appears in sight.
“We’ll see how that plays out,” said Thaler. “Congress could be called back in early if there’s some type of agreement reached over the next couple weeks. If not, we’ll be back where we are when they return.
The partial shutdown involving DHS is now the longest in government history and Thaler said it is unique in other ways, as well.
The Lack of Leverage
“Part of the challenge here is that the two areas that Democrats are most upset about—ICE and Border Patrol–were funded in the One Big Beautiful Bill last year, so (the Democrats) don’t really have spending leverage to make changes over those two agencies,” Thaler observed. “So, they’re trying to use the leverage they do have to try to bring about policy changes there because the funding is already there.”
He noted Republicans have refused to give in and “both sides are very dug in…It’s hard to see what the way out will be for this, ultimately. It’s probably going to take a little bit from each side to have to kind of give in.”
Further complicating the impasse, said Thaler, is the fact House and Senate Republicans are also “not on the same page.”
Concern Over Tax Exemption
Meanwhile, as the CU Daily has been reporting, Simpson noted that in the ongoing conversations in Washington related to funding the government through a second reconciliation bill—both America’s Credit Unions and the Defense CU Council have issued statements and sent letters expressing that the CU tax exemption should not be part of such a bill—but the reconciliation process is complicated by the fact there is “no means agreement across the Congress or even the administration on that pathway at this point.”
