Congressional leaders split on how to avoid a government shutdown
The top two Senate Republicans called for a short-term extension, while the top Senate Democrat isn’t ready to go there yet and the House speaker has yet to show his hand.
The top two Senate Republicans on Tuesday called on Congress to pass a short-term funding extension to keep the government open and buy lawmakers time to write and approve a package of bills to fully fund the government.
The first funding deadline is next Friday. If Congress fails to act, the departments and agencies covered by a third of the 12 bills that fund the government would be shut down.
John Thune of South Dakota, the number-two Senate Republican, said the extension would likely almost certainly be needed and called the idea that appropriators would finish the bills by the funding deadlines “unrealistic.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) agreed that a stop-gap would be needed but said it was up to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Speaker Mike Johnson to determine how long it should be.
“The simplest things take a week in the Senate,” McConnell added. “I think frequently the House doesn’t understand how long it takes to get something through the Senate.”
Schumer was less enthusiastic about the idea of an extension and urged congressional leaders to focus on moving the full-year bills across the finish line despite the awfully compressed timeline, which, according to the top Senate appropriator, has made the task even taller.
“Make no mistake, negotiating final funding bills is no walk in the park,” Sen. Patty Murray, who leads the Senate Appropriations Committee, said. “We are working nonstop right now to get this done, but we are obviously crunched for time.”
These extensions, formally known as continuing resolutions or “CRs,” are generally passed when Congress fails to enact regular appropriations bills by October 1. They typically continue the pre-existing funding levels as the previous fiscal year for a set amount of time.
Congress has passed CRs in late September and mid-November to keep the government open. The second CR was unique in that it split the funding bills into two “laddered” expiration dates. The first, as I mentioned at the top is Jan. 19 for four less controversial measures; the second deadline is Feb. 2 for the remaining eight bills.
Johnson said in November he wouldn’t pass another short-term CR. If he reneges on his word, it will infuriate conservatives who often vote against funding bills anyway. If he allows a shutdown, he’ll be blamed by congressional Democrats and the White House for failing to fulfill one of Congress’s fundamental responsibilities: Funding the government. Either way, he will pay a political price.
Schumer expressed empathy for the tough spot the speaker finds himself in.
“He’s a very decent, respectful guy, unlike some who want to be, you know, macho and bullying and threatening and all of that,” the majority leader said. “He’s not like that, but he’s in a very, very difficult position.”
It’s unclear where top House Democrats stand on the idea of a short-term extension.
House Democrats will hold their first caucus meeting Wednesday morning, followed by a media availability with House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), so we should know more after these events.
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