Congress' Short-term Spending Bill Approved at the Final Hour

After postponing decisions earlier in the year, Congress passed a short-term spending bill that funds agencies through February 18. There was the possibility of a shutdown as all 100 senators must agree to expedited consideration to avoid at least a temporary shutdown of federal agencies; however, the measure managed to pass.

“While I wish the February 18 end date were earlier, this agreement allows the appropriations process to move forward toward a final funding agreement which addresses the needs of the American people,” stated Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee. “Instead of short-term funding patches like this, working families, small businesses, veterans, and our military need the certainty that comes with passing an omnibus.”

Democrat lawmakers said the stopgap spending bill will keep pressure on Republicans to agree on a full-year budget because it contains fewer "anomalies" that lawmakers use in continuing resolutions (CR) to provide extra funding for pressing issues.

As previously reported in FEDagent, lawmakers passed a CR on September 30 to avoid a government shutdown that expires on December 3. As the government's debt ceiling is in question, short-term funding extensions were approved this fall, but it's unclear if lawmakers can agree on a spending bill before December 3, and Senate Republicans have already hinted that debt ceiling increases might not be supported.

A possible alternative could be another continuing resolution (CR), which could fund the government through January or later while giving Congress some extra time to prepare its 2022 appropriations bill. If lawmakers opt for a stopgap measure, funding the government a few weeks in December might help force Congress to come to an agreement about the full appropriations bill, or at least to give them some time until they pass another stopgap measure until next year.

According to OMB, a full-year CR rather than passing appropriations bills would create a staff shortage at the Social Security Administration (SSA) and would delay 114 new military construction projects at the Department of Defense (DOD). Further, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would lose $1.6 billion in funding, and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) would have difficulty maintaining enough Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) employees at its meat and poultry plants.

As the December 15 deadline approaches, Congress must also address raising the debt ceiling. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote to congressional leaders that the government could reach the debt ceiling by December 15, and it would not have the resources to continue financing our government after that date. Congress raised the debt limit by $480 billion in October, so the Treasury had enough funds to operate until the deadline.

Even though it has come close, the United States has never defaulted on its debt, and economists believe it would have catastrophic effects, including reversing the progress of recovery from the pandemic, killing millions of jobs, raising borrowing costs, and causing the global economy to collapse.