Senate, House race to avert government shutdown ahead of winter storm

Congress is racing to greenlight a short-term spending bill and avoid a government shutdown ahead of a winter storm that is set to hit Washington and parts of the Northeast and Midwest. 

Government funding is set to expire at midnight on the end of Friday, but the looming weather is pushing lawmakers to wrap up work sooner than that. The Senate and House are expected to OK another continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the government open on another two-deadline track through March 1 and March 8. 

The Senate locked in a time agreement on Wednesday night to set up a series of votes starting around lunchtime Thursday. Final passage of the six-week CR is expected to take place Thursday afternoon after a series of amendment votes.

“Getting here wasn’t easy,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the floor Thursday. “After a lot of hard work and compromise from both sides of the aisle, the Senate will pass the CR today, giving the House enough time to act before Friday’s deadline.”

“I urge the House to move on the CR as soon as possible so we can send it to the president’s desk as early as today,” Schumer continued. “In order to give our House colleagues time to act, I ask that senators vote quickly once votes are called.” 

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) addresses reporters following the weekly policy luncheon on Tuesday, January 9, 2024.

The House is set to take up the bill in short order. House leaders canceled votes Friday due to the weather, with the measure set to be passed by late afternoon or early evening. The bill will then be sent to the White House for President Biden’s signature. 

House members will vote for the bill under the suspension of the rules, meaning the CR will need two-thirds support to get it over the finish line. 

The Washington area is expected to receive at least an inch of snow, with that forecast potentially ticking up. Parts of the country stretching from Iowa to New York City are expected to see winter weather overnight Thursday, with that system working its way to New England on Friday. 

The stopgap package will give appropriators more time to finish up work on fiscal 2024 items ahead of the April deadline, when a 1 percent cut across the board would go into effect. 

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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) declared last year that he would not put another continuing resolution up for consideration, but he backed off that stance after the need for more time to finish appropriations work became evident. 

The first government funding deadline deals with funding military construction and the departments of Veterans Affairs; Transportation; Housing and Urban Development; Agriculture; and Energy. The March 8 date will mark the drop-dead date when the rest of the government, including Defense, must be funded. 

With funding the government out of the way, lawmakers are next expected to ramp up consideration of a possible border package that could be rolled out next week by Senate negotiators. The border deal would be part of President Biden’s emergency supplemental bill that includes aid for Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific region and humanitarian purposes.