Facing a rapidly approaching February 18 deadline for keeping the government fully funded, Democrats in the House introduced a stop-gap bill on Monday that would keep the lights on until March 11. The House is expected to vote on the continuing resolution Tuesday.
Negotiators have been unable to reach an agreement on spending levels for fiscal year 2022. As a result, spending has been frozen at existing levels for months.
In the budget talks, Democrats are hoping to secure increased funding for a variety of programs favored by the White House. Republicans have shown less interest in increasing social spending, and some GOP lawmakers have indicated that keeping the budget at current levels is fine by them, reducing the pressure to reach a bipartisan agreement.
However, some GOP lawmakers are eager to see an increase in defense spending and are motivated to reach an agreement in order to secure those funds. Both parties have more or less agreed to a $25 billion increase for defense as laid out in the annual defense authorization bill. Democrats want to increase social spending by more than that amount — a problem for Republicans who insist on parity for defense and non-defense spending increases.
Policy riders dealing with contentious issues like abortion are also holding up negotiations, as usual.
The bottom line: As the old saying goes, the best thing to do when you’re headed for a cliff is build more land. Struggling to agree on the 2022 budget, Congress looks ready to punt the problem into next month.
