WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives on Thursday was set to vote on a bill to fund federal agencies through mid-February and avert a government shutdown after Democratic and Republican leaders reached an agreement on timing.
The Democratic-controlled House is expected to promptly begin debate on the bill, which would extend funding through Feb. 18, and vote on passage to give the Senate time to do the same before a midnight Friday deadline.
The House Rules Committee voted 9-4 to send the measure to the full House. All four Republicans opposed the action.
“This is a good compromise that allows an appropriate amount of time for both parties in both chambers to finish negotiations on appropriations,” Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
But group of hard-line Senate Republican conservatives are threatening to delay consideration in protest against Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination mandates, raising the possibility that the government could partially shut down over the weekend while the Senate moves slowly toward eventual passage.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who must quell the rebellion within his caucus to keep the government operating, reiterated on Thursday that there would be no shutdown. But he did not respond when asked whether Republicans would agree to move quickly by consenting to circumvent the Senate’s cumbersome legislative rules. “We need to pass it and that’s what we’ll be working toward doing,” the top Senate Republican told reporters.
Some Republicans including Senator Mike Lee are threatening to prevent action before the Friday deadline, unless they get a vote on a measure to block federal funding for vaccine mandates.
Pelosi blasted the Republican move, saying it demonstrated “a double sense of irresponsibility” that Congress would reject. The temporary spending bill would maintain funding of federal government operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, amid concerns about a new rise in cases and the arrival of the Omicron variant in the United States.
The emergency legislation is needed because Congress has not yet passed the 12 annual appropriations bills funding government activities for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.
A partial government shutdown would create a political embarrassment for both parties, but especially for Biden’s Democrats, who narrowly control both chambers of Congress.
UP NEXT: DEBT CEILING
Congress faces another urgent deadline right on the heels of this one. The federal government is also approaching its $28.9 trillion borrowing limit, which the Treasury Department has estimated it could reach by Dec. 15. Failure to extend or lift the limit in time could trigger an economically catastrophic default.
The fact that the resolution extends funding into February suggested a victory for Republicans in closed-door negotiations. Democrats had pushed for a measure that would run into late January, while Republicans demanded a longer timeline leaving spending at levels agreed to when Republican Donald Trump was president.
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