The U.S. Senate has taken a crucial step towards preventing a partial government shutdown this Saturday by moving forward with a temporary funding bill. The bill was advanced with a 68-13 vote and proposes a two-tiered approach to extend government funding deadlines to March 1 and March 8 for various departments, including Agriculture, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, and Energy.
The urgent need for this stopgap funding measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR), arises as the current federal funding is set to expire in a few days. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer emphasized the importance of timely action, expressing hope for the CR’s completion by Thursday through bipartisan cooperation in both the Senate and the House.
The CR aims to provide different funding expiration dates for various departments. Funding for military construction, Veterans’ Affairs, the USDA, FDA, Department of Transportation, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Energy would extend until March 1. Meanwhile, funding for other departments, including Financial Services, Legislative Branch, Commerce-Justice-Science, Homeland Security, Defense, Interior-Environment, State-Foreign Operations, and Labor-HHS-Education, would extend until March 8.
The extension is necessary as top appropriators need more time to finalize the bills, following a funding framework agreement between Speaker Mike Johnson and Schumer earlier this month.
In the House, Speaker Johnson, who is facing pressure from his conservative colleagues for negotiating with Democrats, will likely require significant support from across the aisle to pass the measure. The House is expected to consider the bill as soon as it passes the Senate. To expedite the process, Johnson may bring the bill up under suspension, which would require a two-thirds majority vote to pass and send the stopgap funding measure to President Joe Biden’s desk for approval.
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