Lynch Offers Policy, Political Outlook Ahead Of Election
By Sam Drysdale, State House News Service
Congressman Stephen Lynch told business leaders Wednesday that he “would not be surprised” if President Joe Biden called Congress into session before the November election, potentially breaking up the campaign activity during the October recess.
Lynch cited Hurricane Helene’s devastation along the southeastern seaboard, escalating conflict in the Middle East and unfinished business related to veterans health care funding and a farm bill as items that may need to be addressed soon.
The U.S. House and Senate kicked off their six-week pre-election recess last week, after approving a government funding extension that will last through December.
However, Lynch said at a New England Council breakfast in Boston that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was already strapped for funds after the bridge collapse in Baltimore Harbor earlier this year, could need an additional infusion of dollars to respond to the disaster that’s death toll has now surpassed 160.
Lynch also pointed to rising conflict in the Middle East after Iran fired missiles at Israel on Tuesday, as Israel has escalated its ground attack into Lebanon.
“We thought we might be able to relax until January, come back in under the new Congress, but the urgency has only increased in the light of what has happened in Israel and in the Middle East over the past week. So I would not be surprised if the president chose to call Congress back in for one purpose or another,” Lynch said.
He also pointed to policy priorities he was “optimistic” about, and said had bipartisan support.
One thing left out of the continuing resolution that Congress agreed to last week is increased Veterans Affairs funding to cover a shortfall caused by the PACT Act, he said.
The 2022 law expanded health care benefits for veterans. Under it, the VA now automatically assumes for some conditions that service caused that disability or health issue, and therefore covers that care without the veteran having to prove its cause.
“So now we have hundreds of thousands of veterans coming forward, receiving those benefits, and families receiving those benefits as well. And so that put a lot of pressure onto the VA. Now we have a need for about $12 billion to fund the VA going forward,” Lynch said.
Lynch said he is “really optimistic” on finding a “quick resolution” to the omnibus bill.
“We have a whole menu of things that we’re trying to deal with in this run to the election and also in the lame duck beyond that, but we’ve been dealing with a lot,” Lynch said Wednesday.
Lynch was not optimistic about the Democrats’ chances to win a majority in the Senate. Democrats are defending 24 seats this fall, compared to Republicans’ nine. Republicans are confident they’ll pick up at least one seat, as Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia retires, clearing the way for a race where most polls show Republican Gov. Jim Justice leading by a comfortable margin.
“The Senate doesn’t look good,” Lynch said. “I think at this point, it just makes the importance of winning the House and winning the White House that much more critical in terms of the direction of the country and some of the other things we talked about, Ukraine and Israel, the Middle East and all of that.”
He said while D.C. waits for the quickly approaching election, lawmakers are hesitant to move on any bills.
Lynch also seemed cautious about Vice President Kamala Harris’s chances against former President Donald Trump in November.
“All the experts are saying this is the closest they’ve ever seen a presidential election. And that worries me, because in the past, when you look at polling, there’s definitely a significant number — I don’t know what that number is — but a significant number of people who are embarrassed to say they’re going to vote for Donald Trump,” Lynch said. “So his numbers in the polling are always undercounted… So with the margins as close as they are, I’m very very concerned.”
Lynch added that he worried the ongoing longshoreman’s strike could be politically disadvantageous for Harris, though he himself supports the strike and was out on the picket line the day before.
If the strike continues for two weeks, he said, the supply chain disruptions could drag on for six months. Those disruptions could mean increased costs for Americans at a time when the prices are already high — and, he said, would likely mean voters would blame the party supporting the workers’ strike.
“Yesterday, as I was standing at Conley Terminal, the cars going by were all beeping support for the workers. But, you know, you’re paying eight bucks for a gallon of milk, you’re not going to be beeping,” he said. “It’s not going to be a thumbs up anymore. It might be another finger.”
read the article via state house news service