US Congress makes last-minute bid to avert government shutdown
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[February 29, 2024]
By David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A divided and chaotic U.S. Congress will make a
last-minute attempt to avert a partial federal government shutdown on
Thursday, less than 48 hours before funding for some federal agencies is
due to expire.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is expected to take
up a short-term stopgap measure that would extend by one week federal
funding that expires at midnight on Friday (0500 GMT Saturday) and set a
March 22 funding deadline for other government agencies.
But the effort to get the measure through the House and Democratic-led
Senate and onto President Joe Biden's desk in time could face hurdles,
especially in the Democratic-led Senate, where some hardline Republicans
are expect to demand amendment votes in exchange for fast-tracking the
bill.
The stopgap, the fourth needed to keep federal agencies open in fiscal
2024, which began Oct. 1, is intended to give the House and Senate time
to pass 12 appropriations bills to fund the government for the remainder
of the fiscal year.
About two months have passed since Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson
and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed on a $1.59
trillion discretionary spending level for the fiscal year. House and
Senate leaders on Wednesday reached agreement on a slate of full-year
appropriations bills to fill in the details.
Representative Tom Cole, a senior Republican appropriator, expected the
stopgap to pass the House without difficulty.
"Congress has already voted not to shut down," Cole told Reuters.
"People want to keep working."
But the measure, known as a continuing resolution or "CR," already faces
hardline opposition in the House and could need a majority of House
Democratic votes for passage.
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![](../images/022924PIX/news_z53.jpg)
U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) makes a statement to
members of the news media after meeting with President Joe Biden,
Vice President Kamala Harris and other congressional leaders in the
Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 27,
2024. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
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That could mean problems for Johnson, who has been pressured by
hardline Republicans to use a shutdown as a bargaining chip to force
Democrats to accept conservative policy riders.
"We're doing what the Democrats want to do, so that it'll pass the
Senate and be signed by the White House. And that's not a win for
the American people," said Representative Bob Good, chairman of the
hardline House Freedom Caucus.
Passage of the CR on Thursday would give the Senate less than two
days to enact the measure and require Schumer, the top Democrat in
Congress, to win an agreement from Senate Republicans to circumvent
a web of parliamentary rules and procedural hurdles that could take
a week to navigate.
Senator Rand Paul, a Republican maverick with a track record for
delaying must-pass legislation before, said he and other hardliners
could consent to such a deal if allowed to offer amendments to
reduce spending and the federal debt.
"We won't just say we're going to roll over and let them continue to
ruin the country," Paul told Reuters.
Major ratings agencies say the repeated brinkmanship is taking a
toll on the creditworthiness of a nation whose debt has surpassed
$34 trillion.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Scott Malone and Michael
Perry)
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