Democrats are still planning — or hoping – to get a House vote on their Build Back Better plan by the end of day Friday. And as the clock ticks toward a December 3 deadline to extend funding for the federal government and avoid a shutdown, they’re reportedly considering another stopgap spending bill that would set up another deadline on December 17 or even closer to Christmas, looking to keep the pressure on Republicans as the two sides continue to spar over annual spending bills.
“Even if Congress enacts another stopgap that provides a couple of additional weeks to negotiate,” Politico’s Caitlin Emma reports, “prospects are bleak for a bipartisan government funding deal before the end of December, likely necessitating another stopgap into early next year.”
The GOP, meanwhile, is taking a hard line on spending talks, and may look to force Democrats into extending federal funding for the rest of the fiscal year at current levels — a move that, as Politico noted this week, would mean “forgoing the potential for extra defense spending in order to jam Democrats into Trump-era domestic limits.”
Lawmaker still have to deal with the massive annual defense bill, which the Senate had been expected to advance to the floor Wednesday. But that procedural vote was delayed after Republicans threatened to block the bill over objections to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) decision to include legislation aimed at competing with China in the must-pass defense package. Schumer’s move represents an effort to get the measure, which has already been passed by the Senate, through the House, where some Democrats have their own concerns about the bill.
So stay tuned…
