Members of Congress, once again in a familiar quandary, have until the end of the week to avoid a government shutdown.
With a December 20 deadline looming, Congress appears to be leaning in the direction of passing a series of funding appropriations to keep several federal agencies operating.
But a vote on an all-inclusive continuing resolution appears elusive, a task complicated by a Biden administration proposal calling on Congress to approve more than $100 million in disaster aid for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as the departments of Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation.
To add urgency to the picture, a House of Representatives rule requires that any proposal must have at least 72 hours to be reviewed, a timeline closing in on December 20.
Several times this year Congress has held off approving a full budget. In September it overwhelmingly passed a stopgap spending measure designed to keep the various federal agencies funded until December 20.
At the time of the stopgap measure, Senate Democrat Majority Leader Charles Schumer, taking note of overwhelming House and Senate majorities in favor of that action, remarked: “This bipartisanship is a good outcome for America.”
Speaking on the program Fox News Sunday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson raised the possibility that Congress will pass a temporary measure, which will address funding issues heading into “the first part of the year and allow us the necessary time to get this done.”
House Budget Committee Chairman Republican Jodey Arrington of Texas, however, has issued a warning on the question of pushing funding issues into what would be President Trump’s first weeks in office. Arrington noted that a delay could trigger automatic spending cuts.
In remarks made last week in Congress, Arrington declared: “We’ve got major fiscal problems and a completely unsustainable fiscal trajectory. I haven’t heard anyone, Democrat or Republican, witness or member, that doesn’t accept that fact.”
December 17, 2024
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
