House passes stopgap spending bill, and Schumer expresses optimism Senate could avert shutdown
WASHINGTON » House lawmakers on Thursday adopted a bill that would fund the government into February, setting in motion a race against the clock to defuse a Republican revolt and prevent key federal agencies and programs from grinding to a halt.
The 221-to-212 nearly party-line vote in the House marked an important development if lawmakers hope to stave off a shutdown that is set to occur at midnight Friday. It came on a day when conservative GOP lawmakers in the Senate had pledged anew to stand in the way of its swift advance, hoping to leverage the must-pass funding measure as part of their campaign to undermine President Joe Biden’s vaccine and testing mandates.
But Senate leaders late Thursday were rushing to adopt the House measure and expressed optimism a deal was within reach.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, DN.Y., told reporters after the House vote that it was “looking good” and that they could pass the bill “tonight.”
For the second day in a row, a group of Republicans led by Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas threatened to hold up the government funding measure in protest of a presidential directive that orders large employers to require coronavirus vaccines for workers or implement comprehensive testing programs. Even though many public health experts see such policies as critical to combating the pandemic, the GOP lawmakers charged that Biden’s mandates are unconstitutional and threaten Americans’ rights and jobs.
“We have seen in the course of this pandemic Democrats being very comfortable with being petty tyrants and decreeing that you must obey their medical mandates,” said Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who has played a lead role in prompting at least one shutdown in the past.
The GOP blockade created significant political headaches for Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who endorsed the bipartisan funding deal earlier in the day. Only with the support of every chamber lawmaker can the Senate advance the spending resolution before midnight Friday - otherwise a shutdown into early next week is all but guaranteed.
Republicans including Marshall and Cruz did signal Thursday they might be open to an agreement to speed up the clock. Seeking to wield their influence ahead of a critical fiscal deadline, they each said they would be open to allowing the funding bill to proceed expediently in exchange for a vote on an amendment that would defund federal enforcement of Biden’s vaccine and testing policies.
Yet Democratic and Republican leaders by Thursday evening declined to say whether they are willing to permit such an amendment, which conservatives have said they want to be set at a 51-vote threshold for passage. Adding to the political uncertainty, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., unexpectedly expressed an openness to supporting such a GOPled amendment on vaccines, even though he opposed a similar effort offered by Republicans earlier this fall. That vote had occurred before the president announced his vaccine-andtesting policy targeting private businesses.
“I’ve been very supportive of a mandate for federal government, for military, for all the people who work on a government payroll,” Manchin said. “I’ve been less enthused about it in the private sector. So we’re working through all that.”
The uncertainty and jostling all day on Capitol Hill raised fears that the country could barrel into a shortterm shutdown this weekend, an outcome that both parties have insisted for days they do not actually want. The growing possibility even prompted Biden to engage Senate leaders directly Thursday, after which he told reporters he thinks a shutdown will not occur.
“We have everything in place to be able to make sure there is not a shutdown,” Biden said.
On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, some Republicans appeared frustrated by the political predicament created by members of their own party - especially since the funding bill has the votes necessary to pass.
“We know ultimately we’re going to fund the government,” said Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the chamber’s appropriations panel and one of the architects of the new funding deal.
In the process, Shelby said lawmakers faced an urgent political choice: “Do we do it before midnight [Friday]? Or do we stretch it out a few days and get the same result.”
Washington is no stranger to government shutdowns, though each one is different in its scope, duration and the number of Americans it affects. For the most part, many federal operations continue during a funding lapse: Social Security and Medicare benefits do not halt, the Postal Service continues delivering mail, and military functions can proceed.
At times, though, the disruptions can prove significant. National parks often close, though the Trump administration tried to keep them open during a lengthy shutdown two years ago in a manner that some budget experts said violated federal law. Passport applications can be delayed, and foreign embassies can curtail services. Federal agencies shutter many services deemed nonessential, sometimes delaying things such as tax filings and passport applications.
For many workers, meanwhile, the implications can be severe. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees are often sent home or forced to work without pay. Those furloughs and other consequences may not rear their heads in the event the shutdown occurs only into a weekend, but the disruptions could prove more troublesome for families and businesses in the event that it drags on for an extended period of time.