Stopgap bill probable to fund government
House, Senate leaders agreed to framework Monday, but little hope for full deal by Jan. 19
Congress may need to pass a temporary government funding bill before a looming deadline to prevent a partial shutdown — even though leaders announced a spending deal over the weekend meant to keep the government open.
Funding for roughly 20% of the federal government — including for essential programs such as some veterans assistance, and food and drug safety services — expires Jan. 19, and money for the rest of the government runs out shortly after that, on Feb. 2.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Sunday agreed to spend $1.66 trillion in the 2024 fiscal year, which ends in September. But that agreement left mere days to pass several spending bills, each worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Those measures will face steep opposition from far-right House Republicans who have demanded budget cuts and called the Johnson-Schumer deal a “total failure.” Any delays could push the government into at least a partial shutdown, if Congress cannot act before the deadlines.
That means lawmakers may need to enact a stopgap spending measure, known as a continuing resolution or CR, Senate leaders of both parties said Tuesday.
“We are all working nonstop right now to get this done, but we are obviously crunched for time,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chair of the Appropriations Committee, told reporters.
“They have a top-line agreement, Schumer and the speaker. In the meantime, we need to prevent a government shutdown,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said. “The obvious question is how long does the CR need to be? That will be up to the majority leader and the speaker, to determine the length of the CR.”
At the Senate’s usual plodding pace, passing a single spending bill takes a week, at best — let alone the four that must pass by next Friday to prevent a partial shutdown. Lawmakers still need to allocate funds among the 12 appropriations — or long-term financing — bills. Then they need to draft the legislative texts, a cumbersome legalistic process, and members need time to review the measures. In the Senate, each bill needs support from at least 60 members in a process that could require as many as 30 hours of debate to dodge a filibuster.
That process takes far less time in the House, where leaders can exert more control over the floor and ram legislation through rapidly.
But Johnson, who’s only held the speakership since late October, has also struggled to corral his raucous Republican conference. He’s especially tussled recently with the volatile and archconservative House Freedom Caucus, which ousted his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., over spending issues.