US Bill to avert shutdown passed

But Democrats vow to block short-term law in looming Congress battle

WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives has passed a stopgap funding measure that would avert a government shutdown, sending it to the Senate where Democrats have vowed to block it.

With the federal government set to run out of money today at midnight – the eve of the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s inauguration – the Bill cleared the House with a 230-197 vote yesterday.

But prospects appeared gloomy in the Senate, where Democrats eager for leverage on budget and immigration deals were intent on shooting it down.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said if a consensus is not reached by tonight, there should be an even shorterterm funding measure of a few days that would “give the President a few days to come to the table”.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican Majority Leader, said the House Bill provided for four weeks of funding, enough to allow talks to continue “without throwing the government into disarray for no reason”.

He said Schumer wanted to “hold the entire country hostage”.

Trump – who Schumer said “is like a Sphinx on this issue” – yesterday added to the chaos gripping Washington, weighing in on the intense Republican manoeuvering aimed at avoiding a politically embarrassing funding debacle.

Following a burst of tweets Trump second-guessed top Republican lawmakers and slapped down his own chief of staff, who had been leading a White House push on Capitol Hill for a budget compromise.

Arriving at the Pentagon for a visit, Trump told reporters the government “could very well” shut down today.

In the event the funding dries up, federal employees for agencies considered non-essential are ordered to stay home until a budget deal is struck, at which point they are paid retroactively.

The most recent government shutdowns – in 1995, 1996 and 2013 – saw about 800,000 workers fur- loughed per day.

Key government bodies such as the White House, Congress, State Department and Pentagon would remain operational, but would likely furlough some staff.

The military would still report for duty, but troops – including those in combat – would potentially not be paid.

The finger-pointing had already begun, with each side blaming the other for a failure to reach a budget compromise after three previous funding extensions.

“A government shutdown will be devastating to our military ... something the Dems care very little about!” Trump tweeted yesterday morning.