When Congress returns from its August recess next month, lawmakers are likely to try to pass a stopgap spending bill to prevent a government shutdown in October. Speaker Kevin McCarthy reportedly told his fellow House Republicans Monday night that he’s looking to pass a short-term extension of government funding when the House returns. And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Tuesday that a short-term spending fix “makes a good deal of sense.”
A short-term spending bill, known as a continuing resolution or CR, could also include additional aid for Ukraine and disaster relief funding.
How we got here: With current funding set to expire when the current fiscal year ends on September 30, funding the government to avoid a shutdown will be a top priority, but lawmakers are far from finalizing the 12 annual spending bills required to fund agencies into 2024. The Senate has advanced all 12 appropriations bills out of committee but still needs to pass them. The House has passed just one of its 12 bills and Republican leaders had to hold off voting on another in the face of pushback from conservatives. The work still to be done on annual appropriations and the little time remaining before the deadline combine to likely make a stopgap bill necessary.
McCarthy reportedly told his members on a conference call that his proposed short-term measure would extend funding until early December at the latest, avoiding a pre-Christmas funding cliff. “McCarthy said he’s told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that the patch would not go near the holidays — a bid to avoid the calendar crunch that we’re all a little too familiar with after the last few years,” Politico reports, adding that the speaker expressed confidence that Congress could avoid an October 1 shutdown.
Some GOP members were more skeptical. “I just got off a member call - it’s clear President Biden and Speaker McCarthy want a government shutdown, so that’s what Congress will do after we return in September. Everyone should plan accordingly,” Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas posted Monday evening.
Stuck on spending bills: McCarthy reportedly indicated that he opposes the idea of a year-long stopgap spending bill and said he plans to bring additional spending bills to the floor when lawmakers return. He urged his members “to pass their versions of the FY2024 spending bills in order to counter Senate Democrats, who’ve passed their own bills with a ‘97% yes vote,’ Punchbowl News reported.
House Republicans are looking to set discretionary spending levels for next year more than $100 billion lower than the caps agreed to as part of the deal this year to raise the debt limit. They face pushback from the White House, congressional Democrats and some Senate Republicans as well. “I just hope that House Republicans will realize that any funding solution has to be bipartisan or they’ll risk shutting down the government,” Schumer told reporters.
