Avoidance of Government Shutdown Rests on Lame Duck Spending Deal
As lawmakers approach the December 11, 2020 stopgap funding deadline, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin remain stuck on several issues relating to COVID-19 and funding of the government. If Congress and the White House are unable to reach another stopgap funding deal by December 11, then a partial government shutdown could occur.
Speaker Pelosi said on October 6, 2020, “In the lame duck we’ll have to pass stimulus or we’ll have to put provisions in the appropriations bill to keep government open.” There is a chance that emergency funding will be added on to a spending bill separate from a COVID-19 relief bill.
Lawmakers could be incentivized to add coronavirus funding to appropriations bills because of the rapidly approaching December 11 deadline and because election results are unpredictable. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said, “I'm going to press very, very hard to complete our business both on COVID-19 and on an omnibus or a [continuing resolution].”
The White House is willing to accept $2 trillion in funding, and Senate Republicans are relying on Mnuchin not to make heavy concessions to the Democrats.
Several key aid provisions that were created for the pandemic are due to expire on December 31, 2020, including an extra 13 weeks of federal unemployment insurance for individuals who have exhausted their regular state benefits and a suspension of airline industry taxes. The Paycheck Protection Program that kept many small businesses afloat was drained in August.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to release an appropriations bill for any agency. While President Trump wants Republicans to “go big”, they are unlikely to accept a large funding measure, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
As deadlines loom, it is more likely that Democrats and Republicans will have to merge government funding talks with COVID relief talks. G. William Hoagland, a former top GOP budget aide, predicts that the spending bills will not be completed this year, and especially not before the election.
He said, “Something in my gut tells me it [will be] a continuing resolution with an adjustment for COVID.” Meanwhile, Speaker Pelosi, who is dedicated to securing a COVID relief bill this year, said on October 18, “We want it as soon as possible. I don't want to have to be sweeping up after ... dumpings [of this administration] as we go into a new presidency in a few short months.”
