Congress OKs short- term funding to avoid shutdown
Stopgap bill will keep government running at least another week
With just hours left until a government shutdown at midnight, Congress passed a stopgap funding bill Friday that will keep the government open for another week.
House members voted 382- 30 to approve the legislation, which gives lawmakers until midnight on May 5 to try to reach a compromise on legislation to fund the government through the rest of fiscal year 2017, which ends Sept. 30. The Senate approved the weeklong funding bill by voice vote Friday, and President Trump has said he will sign it into law.
“The fact that we are here again at the last minute just trying to keep the government open is sad,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D- Mass. “Once again, we have a manufactured crisis at the edge of a cliff.”
Congressional leaders and the White House wanted to prevent an unpopular shutdown, which would have closed national parks and monuments, delayed tax refunds and furloughed thousands of federal workers. The shutdown would have taken effect Saturday — Trump’s 100th day in office— unless Congress acted.
Democrats decided to support the stopgap measure after it became clear that House Republicans would not force a vote this week on a new version of their bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D- Md., and other Democrats said they would vote against the weeklong bill to fund the government if GOP leaders went ahead with a health care vote.
Hoyer said he feared that Republicans were trying to push the bill through to give Trump a big victory for his first 100 days. However, Speaker Paul Ryan, RWis., said he would not bring the health care legislation to the floor until he is sure he has the votes to pass it. Many moderate Republicans expressed concern this week about the latest version of the bill.
Federal programs would continue to be funded at existing levels under the stopgap measure approved by the House. The resolution would also extend health care benefits for retired union coal miners through May 5. There is bipartisan support for making those benefits permanent.
Lawmakers will return to work Monday with just five days to reach a deal or face another possible shutdown. Two major stumbling blocks to a compromise were largely resolved this week.
On Tuesday, Trump backed off his demand for immediate funding for a Southwest border wall, deciding to fight for money in the 2018 budget instead. Democrats had warned that the issue would result in a shutdown because of their fierce opposition to the wall. Some borderstate Republicans also oppose the barrier, calling it expensive and ineffective. The Department of Homeland Security has estimated that the wall will cost nearly $ 22 billion, but Democrats have said the price tag could be as high as $ 70 billion.
On Wednesday, the White House backed off its threat to stop paying federal subsidies that help low- income Americans pay for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
Democrats want language in the final bill to ensure that subsidies owed to health insurance companies under Obamacare are paid so that insurance premiums don’t increase for low- income families by 15% or more. Trump had threatened to withhold the payments to force Democrats to bargain on a health care bill to replace the ACA, but White House officials said Wednesday that those payments will continue. Other sticking points remain. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D- Calif., said there are still disagreements over a rule that requires financial advisers to act in the best interests of clients saving for retirement. Democrats want to protect the rule in the funding bill but Republicans want to scrap it, saying it is confusing and burdensome.
Democrats also are seeking health care funding for Puerto Rico, which is expected to run out of Medicaid money this year, resulting in nearly 1 million residents losing their medical coverage.