Leaders in both chambers of Congress announced Thursday that they’ve reached a deal to fund the government through mid-February.
House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) said the House will vote on the stopgap measure as soon as Thursday. If the Senate passes an identical bill by midnight Friday, a government shutdown will be averted. But some GOP Senators have threatened to slowdown the process to protest President Biden’s vaccine-or-testing mandates. The Washington Post reports:
In the Senate, the path remained unclear, as Republicans led by Sen. Roger Marshall (Kan.) have said they will hold up the debate unless lawmakers agree to defund Biden’s directive requiring large businesses to require vaccines or implement a testing regimen.
Without Republicans’ support, the Senate is unable to speed through its lengthy debate process, meaning a short-term shutdown would be likely into the weekend or early next week. By Thursday morning, chamber leaders had not yet announced a clear resolution to the stalemate, though Republicans a day earlier signaled they may be open to lending their support in the event they can vote on an amendment targeting the president’s vaccine policy.
The stopgap measure – which funds the government through February 18th – directs $7 billion toward helping Afghan refugees. But it does not address “a slew of unresolved policy issued that they had hoped to tackle…a reflection of the tense talks that delayed a vote on government funding for days,” adds the Post.
In particular, the temporary funding does not forestall looming cuts to Medicare and farm aid. POLITICO explains:
Congress typically avoids such cuts with bipartisan ease, but Republicans haven’t been inclined to help while the majority party pursues big spending plans without GOP support. Democrats have pledged to find another legislative vehicle to address the drastic funding reductions next year. But they’ll still need assistance from at least 10 Senate Republicans, setting up another possible showdown as the GOP focuses on spending and inflation concerns ahead of the 2022 midterms.
The Wall Street Journal adds:
Republicans and Democrats had haggled over the duration of the spending patch, as Democrats sought a shorter extension and Republicans pushed for a longer one. Some Republicans see extending current funding, which was set under the Trump administration, as a way to prevent Democrats from setting new spending levels for federal programs.
“While I wish it were earlier,” DeLauro said of the proposed deadline, “this agreement allows the appropriations process to move forward toward a final funding agreement which addresses the needs of the American people.”
