Congress Avoids Shutdown, Kicks Funding Fight to December
A government shutdown at the end of the September is avoided.
The House and Senate passed a continuing resolution (CR) that will keep the government funded through December 20, sending the legislation to President Biden’s desk, as Congress heads out of town for election season.
The bill made it through the House on a vote of 341-82, with 82 Republicans opposing the legislation, claiming it’s just another example of kicking the can down the road.
It passed the Senate on a vote of 78-18.
The short-term extension does not include the controversial SAVE Act (H.R. 8281), which requires voters to prove citizenship before they can register to vote. Republicans wanted the SAVE Act in the bill, but Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) saw the writing on the wall at this time.
"The best play under the circumstances was the CR with the SAVE Act," said Speaker Johnson. "But we came a little short of the goal line, so we have to go with the last available play."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer applauded the move to strip the SAVE Act.
“This is a good outcome for the country. There will be no shutdown, because finally, at the end of the day, our Republican colleagues in the House decided to work with us,” said Senator Schumer (D-NY).
Notably, the legislation includes $231 million in additional funding for the U.S. Secret Service after the pair of assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump.
The CR also extended Overseas Comparability Pay, which was due to expire. Overseas Comparability Pay narrows the gap between what federal employees working overseas are paid as compared with federal employees in Washington, DC. If it wasn’t extended, some federal employees would have seen a pay cut of up to 22 percent.
December Showdown
The CR sets up another government funding showdown, this time in December, when it’s likely the results of the presidential and congressional elections will be known.
Speaker Johnson previously said that House Republicans will not approve a sweeping omnibus bill to keep the government open.
But the results of the election will surely play a huge part.
“The most important person deciding what we’re going to do is going to be the president-elect of the United States, whoever that is,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK).