House, Senate on collision course over spending bill

WASHINGTON — House Democrats unveiled a short-term spending bill on Monday that Senate Republicans immediately said they would oppose, raising the prospect of a government shutdown weeks before the November elections.

The House and Senate must pass identical versions of the bill in order for President Donald Trump to sign it.

Government funding runs out at midnight on Sept. 30. Unless the House and Senate pass new spending legislation before then, key government agencies including the Pentagon and Health and Human Services department will begin to shut down.

The House Democrats’ legislation would keep the government funded through Dec. 11. But it omits $30 billion sought by Trump and Senate Republicans to replenish a bailout program for farmers that Democrats oppose.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced his opposition to the House plan in a statement on Twitter.

The House plans to pass the legislation later this week and send it to the Senate. Senate Republicans could block the bill or seek to amend it and send it back to the House. Either way, the path forward is unclear — and what both sides expected to be a straightforward extension of government funding could turn into a high-stakes showdown just ahead of the election and in the midst of a fight over a Supreme Court vacancy.

Democrats called on Republicans on Monday to accept the bill.

Nonetheless, before McConnell put out his statement Monday, White House officials had suggested they might be able to live with the so-called “continuing resolution,” or CR, even without the farm money.

“We do prefer additional farm aid in the CR . ... Most of all we want a clean CR to keep the government open,” White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters at the White House.