Leaders agree to funding deal
Bill could avoid partial shutdown
WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders said Wednesday they had agreed to another short-term stopgap spending bill to head off a partial government shutdown at the end of the week, paving the way for a temporary path out of a stalemate that has repeatedly threatened federal funding over the past six months.
The deal, initially floated by House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, would extend funding for some government agencies for a week, through March 8, and the rest for another two weeks, until March 22.
The leaders said they had come to an agreement on six of the 12 annual spending bills that would “be voted on and enacted prior to March 8.” The stopgap measure was necessary, they said, to allow appropriators “adequate time to execute on this deal in principle,” and to allow lawmakers to review its text.
“We are in agreement that Congress must work in a bipartisan manner to fund our government,” they said in a joint statement. The deal paved the way for a vote in the House as soon as Thursday to keep the government open, with the Senate expected to follow suit before a midnight deadline on Friday.
But that would only prolong what has been an agonizing months-long negotiation on federal spending that has gripped Congress for months, as Republicans bent on steep cuts and conservative policy mandates refused to accept a deal with Democrats.
Top lawmakers would still have to agree on the other six spending measures, and then try to pass them individually in the next three weeks, or face another potential shutdown. That would be a tall order in the House, which has struggled to pass spending legislation amid Republican divisions.
The White House signaled its support for the agreement shortly after it was announced. Karine Jean-Pierre, President Biden’s press secretary, said in a statement the deal “would help prevent a needless shutdown while providing more time to work on bipartisan appropriations bills and for the House to pass the bipartisan national security supplemental as quickly as possible.”
The funding plan came after a meeting at the White House on Tuesday in which Biden and congressional leaders from both parties escalated pressure on Johnson to accept a spending deal. Top Democrats and Republicans emerged saying they were optimistic about keeping the government funded.
The spending showdown that has brought the government to the brink of a partial shutdown this week has been fueled by congressional Republicans, who, after failing in their efforts to slash federal funding, have fought to tie it to a number of policy dictates.
Johnson told Republicans over the weekend during a conference call that they should not expect the inclusion of many of their major policy priorities, but that he expected to secure a number of smaller victories.
Among the measures that Republicans have sought are one that would curtail access to abortion medication and another to restrict the Department of Veterans Affairs from flagging veterans deemed mentally incompetent in a federal background check needed to buy a gun. They also have tried to block an effort by Democrats to increase funding for nutrition programs for low-income women and children.