With the government funding deadline of November 17 looming, Congress appears to be making little headway in avoiding another shutdown, following the narrow escape from a funding lapse almost six weeks ago.
The Democratic-led Senate and the Republican-controlled House have not reached a consensus on a plan to keep government agencies operational beyond the current funding deadline.
House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana expressed the urgency to avert a government shutdown, stating on Tuesday, “We certainly want to avoid a government shutdown.”
However, despite the looming deadline, House Republicans have yet to disclose their strategy for funding the government. This delay follows three weeks of efforts to elect a new House Speaker after the ousting of California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who played a pivotal role in the short-term bipartisan deal that averted a shutdown at the end of September.
Acknowledging the necessity for another short-term measure, commonly known as a continuing resolution, Johnson admitted last week that there was a “growing recognition” of this need. He outlined various options, including a “laddered” approach that would involve setting different lengths of funding for individual appropriations bills.
“You would do one part of a subset of the bills by a December date and the rest of it by a January date,” explained Johnson on Tuesday.
Discussions also revolved around a stopgap measure expiring in January “with certain stipulations,” he added.
As of Thursday afternoon, the course of action for House Republicans remained unclear. Votes on two funding bills were canceled for the second time in a week, underscoring the ongoing dysfunction within the House.
House Democrats are advocating for a “clean” continuing resolution, extending government funding at the previous year’s levels, dismissing the “laddered” approach as a nonstarter.
Republican Rep. John Duarte of California commented on the situation, saying, “We’ll see next week what we actually do. A lot of it will have to do with, can we pass some clean appropriations bills and get the monkey business out of them.”
The potential for discontent among hard-right members, who previously ousted McCarthy, remains as they may scrutinize Johnson’s leadership. The absence of any proposed spending cuts further intensifies this risk.
In the Senate, a vote on a stopgap measure is expected next week. However, the duration of its version and the Senate’s willingness to pass House-originated partisan legislation remain uncertain, as emphasized by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
