McConnell says Senate to pass first funding bills next week

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said leaders plan to pass their first government funding bills for fiscal 2024 next week in the Senate. 

“Congress needs to address our nation’s most pressing needs with timely appropriations and we need to keep the lights on come October 1,” he said from the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon, less than a week after he suffered a freeze-up while speaking to reporters in Kentucky.

Lawmakers have until the end of the month to pass legislation to keep the government funded, or risk their first shutdown in years. 

Democrats and Republicans are eyeing a continuing resolution (CR), which would keep funding at levels last set when Democrats led both chambers, to buy time to strike a larger agreement.

Before leaving town for the August recess, Senate appropriators passed all 12 annual government funding bills out of committee along bipartisan lines — a sharp contrast to the go-it-alone approach being undertaken in the GOP-led House.

“Next week, we’ll aim to pass the first batch of their work out here on the floor,” McConnell said, before discussing the need for a supplemental appropriations measure to address national priorities and disaster relief.

“We’ve also made clear that the Senate’s top priority must be keeping the American people safe, and this month, we’ll have a chance to do that with supplemental appropriations for urgent national security and disaster relief priorities,” he said. 

“We need to continue to invest in America’s defense industrial base, both to support our partners in today’s fight and to help our forces deter tomorrow’s threats,” McConnell added. 

His comments come after the White House requested billions of dollars in supplemental funding last month, including an ask of more than $20 billion in assistance for Ukraine that has already ruffled feathers with some hard-line conservatives.