WASHINGTON — Congress is poised to approve legislation this week granting lawmakers until mid-December to finalize annual government funding bills. The stopgap spending bill, or continuing resolution, enjoys broad bipartisan support necessary to pass House and Senate votes. Senators must reach agreement to vote on the legislation before the Oct. 1 deadline when federal spending expires.
The 49-page bill, released Sunday after weeks of stalemate, does not guarantee Congress will complete full-year bills within the next 12 weeks. Lawmakers can pass multiple stopgap spending bills if needed.
Continuing resolutions extend current spending levels and policy for a set period, providing the House and Senate additional time to finalize the dozen full-year spending bills.
Nov. 5 election and the lame duck
The election results may dictate whether the Republican House and Democratic Senate reach agreement on full-year bills during the lame-duck session post-Election Day or defer to next year, potentially altering the balance of power. Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, aims to finalize appropriations bills in December, stating lawmakers would address funding decisions during the lame-duck session.
Johnson intends to move final, conferenced spending bills individually rather than bundling them, which often faces opposition from conservative Republicans. “We have broken the Christmas omni and I have no intention of going back to that terrible tradition,” Johnson said. “We don’t want any buses, we’re not going to do any buses.”
The stopgap spending bill expected to pass this week sets the next government funding deadline for Dec. 20, four days before Christmas.
Senate and House both struggle
Johnson blamed Senate Democrats for delays in completing full-year funding bills, claiming the House did its part. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved 11 of 12 bills with bipartisan votes but failed to reach consensus on the Homeland Security bill. None of these bills have been voted on in the Senate, partly due to lengthy amendment processes.
The House Appropriations Committee reported its dozen bills along party lines, lacking Democratic support needed for enactment during divided government. House Republicans passed five bills, including Defense and Homeland Security. Efforts to pass the Legislative Branch bill failed. House rules allow for faster bill debates and votes compared to the Senate.
Neither Senate nor House leadership has initiated conferencing full-year spending bills, essential for bipartisan, bicameral approval to avoid another stopgap spending bill in December. With both chambers set to leave for a six-week break, there may not be enough time to conference all bills before the mid-December deadline.
‘Stay away from poison pills’
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, criticized Johnson for attempting to pass a six-month stopgap spending bill. That bill, which failed to pass, included a GOP provision requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. “If both sides keep working together, if we stay away from poison pills and partisan spectacle, then the American people can rest assured there won’t be a government shutdown,” Schumer said. “But we still have more work to do.”
The Biden administration supported the stopgap spending bill, releasing a Statement of Administration Policy calling for “swift passage of this bill in both chambers of the Congress to avoid a costly, unnecessary Government shutdown and to ensure there is adequate time to pass full-year FY 2025 appropriations bills later this year.”
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