Lesson learned, tea party plays nice

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The tea party may have learned its lesson.

As Congress finishes work on a must-pass spending bill set for votes next week, the most-conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill are eager to send a message on immigration and stand firm against a government lending bank.

But a year after they forced a 16-day partial government shutdown over President Barack Obama’s health care law, few seem to have the stomach to push their demands that far again.

“No question we learned that with the aid of the news media, the Democrats were able to pin the blame on us” for last year’s shutdown, said conservative Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala.

This time around, Brooks said, “We need to pass whatever funding necessary to prevent a government shutdown, first and foremost.”

Rep. John Fleming, R-La., another tea-party-aligned lawmaker, said: “I don’t think any of us want to have a big battle” over the spending bill to fund government operations into December.

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced Wednesday that votes on the measure would be put off to next week to give lawmakers time to weigh the Obama administration’s request to include authorization to aid Syrian rebels fighting Islamic State terrorists.