US Congress scrambles to pass stopgap bill to avert government shutdown

© Reuters. People walk past a snowy U.S. Capitol building in Washington, U.S., January 16, 2024. REUTERS/Leah Millis/ File Photo

By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Thursday will aim to approve a stopgap measure keeping the federal government funded through early March, averting a partial shutdown that would begin in less than two days if Congress fails to act.

The Democratic-majority Senate and Republican-controlled House of Representatives are far behind in carrying out their basic duty of funding the government for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1, with lawmakers scrambling to keep the lights on through early March, to give them more time to pass a full-year bill.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer and his House Republican counterpart, Mike Johnson, early this month agreed to a $1.59 trillion discretionary spending level for the year that ends on Sept. 30. But in a sign of how bitterly the Congress is divided, the two parties now disagree on that number, with Democrats saying the actual amount agreed to is $1.66 trillion.

“I think we’re on a good path to getting it done,” Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock told Reuters, referring to the prospects of passing the temporary spending bill on Thursday or Friday.

The intense jockeying between House Republicans seeking deep spending cuts and Democrats comes amid a $34.4 trillion national debt that is rapidly escalating and has prompted worries in part because of the heavy interest payments now being borne by the Treasury Department.

This third stopgap funding bill, known as a “continuing resolution” or “CR,” would simply extend last fiscal year’s spending levels until two deadlines of March 1 and March 8 for completing action of spending for various government agencies.

Democratic Representative Josh Gottheimer outlined the impact of possible government agency shutdowns, including a worsening backlog in veterans seeking disability benefits, a possible suspension of aircraft safety inspections and a freeze in Agriculture Department loans and other services to rural communities. Another example, farther ahead, is that more than 1 million military personnel temporarily would not receive paychecks.

Senator Susan Collins, the senior Republican on the Appropriations Committee, said on Wednesday she was optimistic a government shutdown will be skirted.

“I think we will take up the CR tomorrow,” Collins said. But she expressed frustration at how long it was taking to divide up the money for the 12 bills providing the full-year budget, adding, “This has been dragging on for a long time and I really don’t know why.”

Senate passage of the CR would send it to the House, where Johnson could face blowback from hardline members of his party who oppose such stopgap funding bills without deep spending cuts.

That displeasure led last fall to the toppling of Johnson’s predecessor, Kevin McCarthy.