Stopgap Again Needed to Stave off Shutdown, but Long-Term Deal Struck
Congress is again looking to a short-term resolution to keep the government open and to avoid the March 1 shutdown deadline for some agencies.
The House passed a short-term funding bill extending funding until March 8 for agencies that were facing the March 1 deadline. The bill passed in a 320 to 99 vote with 113 Republicans and 207 Democrats voting in favor of the legislation. The Senate is expected to follow suit.
Agencies that were facing a March 8 deadline for funding will be extended until March 22.
This gives congressional leaders more time to fine-tune and review the first six appropriations bills. Congressional leaders announced broad agreement on a deal to keep certain agencies funded through the end of the fiscal year, September 30.
The six bills with soft agreements made cover the departments of Agriculture, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs and Energy, and the Food and Drug Administration.
Also included are the Interior Department, Commerce Department, Justice Department, and the Environmental Protection Agency, which face the later deadline, but will be funded in the first tranche of appropriations bills.
The spending bills adhere to the Fiscal Responsibility Act discretionary spending limits and January’s topline spending agreement of nearly $1.7 trillion.
After passage of those, the remaining bills will be up.
“The remaining six Appropriations bills – Defense, Financial Services and General Government, Homeland Security, Labor-HHS, Legislative Branch, and State and Foreign Operations – will be finalized, voted on, and enacted prior to March 22,” said congressional leaders in a statement.
The second wave of bills includes more controversial items, including the Department of Homeland Security. Republicans are upset that the legislation does not do enough to secure the southern border.
But Republicans seem resigned to giving into the short-term extensions.
“It’s almost impossible right now with a two-seat majority,” said Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY).
And some Democrats are upset at the process as well. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) told the Washington Post that the short-term resolutions need to end.
“If that’s what it takes to get this done, then let’s do it. But this ‘kicking the can down the road’ crap really does need to stop,” said Senator Tester.