The Senate spent much of Friday — a rare Friday for the chamber — trying to finalize a crucial spending package to avert a partial government shutdown that the GOP-controlled House passed days ago so it can be sent to President Biden‘s desk by the midnight deadline.
Senators started the day optimistic, but concerns have grown as the day has stretched on.
“It’s gotten a little complicated, unfortunately,” Sen.
John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Republican in the upper chamber, told reporters Friday afternoon. “We’ll have hopefully in the next couple of hours, I think an understanding of how this is going to how we’re going to finish this. But right now they’re blocking amendment votes.”
The Senate advanced the package over a procedural hurdle Friday in a 63-35 vote. But final passage has been held up in the ongoing debate.
The 1,050-page package calls for more than $450 billion for the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Interior, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Commerce and Energy.
Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, warned lawmakers to “stop playing with fire.”
“If we do not act at midnight, tonight, we will have a partial government shutdown,” Collins said on the Senate floor. “It will affect the Department of Agriculture. It will impair the work of the Food and Drug Administration. It will prevent military construction projects going forward.”
The next spending deadline is March 22 to stop a larger shutdown with more consequence that includes funding for the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security.
Read more at TheHill.com.
