DeMint plans to stall passage of housing bill

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is threatening to delay final action on a housing-rescue package despite wide support from both parties and the White House.

The conservative Republican cannot prevent the bill from becoming law, but he can use the arcane rules of the chamber to delay for days the final consideration of the massive bill, which is expected to cost up to $25 billion over the next two years. The measure is supposed to prop up troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by offering an unlimited line of credit.

{mosads}“If they’re going to send us bad policy, and say that the place is on fire, we gotta do something — let’s do another knee-jerk congressional reaction to it, we’re going to at least have the 30 hours of debate,” the senator said.

DeMint is upset that Senate leadership will not allow senators to offer amendments to a measure that he said would equate to a taxpayer bailout for bad actors in the mortgage crisis. Among the amendments he wants to offer is one that would rein in the lobbying activities of Fannie and Freddie.

“I think the American people will be upset for good reason if we pass an open checkbook with taxpayer support without having it on the floor and debating and having some discussion,” DeMint said.

The House is expected to pass the measure Wednesday and send it over to the Senate, where leaders want to quickly send the measure to President Bush for his signature. But speeding debate in the Senate means receiving unanimous consent, which DeMint does not plan to give. That could delay final action on the measure until Friday, or spill debate into the weekend.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will likely file cloture Wednesday to limit debate on the bill, setting up a key procedural vote Friday. The GOP opponents can object to any efforts to hold the vote before Friday, and can object to efforts to waive Senate rules to allow 30 hours of post-cloture debate before the chamber proceeds to a final vote.

DeMint will have the support of other conservative Republicans, like Sens. Tom Coburn (Okla.) and Jim Bunning (Ky.). But the GOP leadership has signaled its support for passing the measure, as has the White House, which on Wednesday backed away from a veto threat over the measure’s inclusion of $4 billion in block grants to localities.

“I think most of my members share [the] view that we need to wrap this up,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said. “It’s been going on for a while, and it’s time to finish it.”

Proponents said that each day the measure is delayed means thousands more homes go into foreclosure.