Clock Ticks on Government Funding Deal
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
Congress faces a big to-do list as lawmakers return to Capitol Hill to wrap up the lame-duck session ahead of the new Congress next year. Top of the agenda is striking a government funding deal. The deadline is December 16, giving lawmakers a little more than two weeks to reach a deal or face a partial government shutdown.
According to Bloomberg Government, top lawmakers said on Monday that a short-term stopgap bill “appears increasingly likely.”
Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), Chairman of the Appropriations State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee, told reporters that a weeklong stopgap through Friday, December 23, “increasingly looks like that may be necessary.”
Lawmakers have yet to agree to a top-line set of spending numbers for either defense or nondefense spending, which would be the first step for an Omnibus appropriations package, as they grapple with the fallout from the midterm elections resulting in a narrowly split Congress.
According to Politico, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) conceded that the December 6 runoff for the Georgia Senate seat may delay negotiations even further.
“I wish it wouldn’t. It’s possible. But the sooner we do it the better,” Senator Leahy said.
Still, there is optimism from congressional leaders that an Omnibus package can get done in time.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) said on Bloomberg’s Balance of Power, “I think we will get this appropriations bill done, and we are going to codify same-sex marriage, and I believe we can do something about the Electoral College reform.”
And according to Politico, the top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) said of the funding bill, “We haven’t come to conclusions but we are talking.”
Rep. Granger, who will become House Appropriations Chair in the new Congress, also expressed confidence that the December 16 deadline will be met.
Even if there is an agreement on the top-line numbers, questions remain over what would get attached to the spending package. Biden Administration requests for more aid to Ukraine and more money for COVID-19-related prevention measures have come under fire from some Republicans.
Keeping the government funded is not the only item on the Congressional agenda. Lawmakers face a big to-do list of other items.
The Senate is still considering the National Defense Authorization Act, which establishes military policy and spending priorities. The House passed its version in July and it has passed into law 60 years in a row usually with bipartisan support.
USA Today reports that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Congress that “anything short of a year-long deal to fund the government would cause ‘significant harm’ to national security.”
In the likely-to-pass category, the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill that would codify access to same-sex marriage rights continued to advance thru the Senate with bipartisan support.
Lawmakers are also weighing a resolution to prevent a railroad strike, as well as a bill to speed up the energy permitting process.
Democrats are hoping to use their remaining days in power in the House to pass the Electoral Count Act, which would change an 1887 law governing how Congress deals with presidential-election disputes.
Gun control and raising the debt ceiling are seen as long shots as Congress wraps up its work for the year.
