Schumer: Government funding resolution agreement with McCarthy is 'good sign'

[August 17, 2023]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday said he met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy a few weeks ago and agreed to a resolution that could extend current federal government spending for a few months. 

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), with Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), holds a press conference after the weekly Democratic caucus policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

"We agreed we should do a CR ... where you just extend the existing funding for a few months so we could work this out, and I thought that was a good sign," the chamber's top Democrat told MSNBC, referring to a temporary spending measure known as a continuing resolution.

Current government funding is due to expire Sept. 30 with the fiscal year beginning Oct 1, and no action to fund the federal government could trigger a shutdown.

Any spending measures would have to pass both the Democratic-led Senate and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Schumer warned against McCarthy, a Republican, following hardline members of his party who may be pushing for a shutdown over Ukraine funding and other issues, and noted that there is bipartisan support in the Senate to pass regular appropriations bills to fund the U.S. government.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; editing by Christina Fincher)

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