Biden and House Republicans Strike Funding Agreement to Avert Shutdown as Deadline Looms | US Congress
TL/DR –
The Biden administration and House Republican leadership have agreed on a government funding package that needs to be passed before Saturday to prevent a partial government shutdown. The deal includes funding the Department of Homeland Security for the rest of the fiscal year, which was the last sticking point in the talks, however, it is not yet clear what the exact details of the deal are. The funding bill must be passed before 12.01am on Saturday, otherwise, roughly 70% of the federal government will shut down unless another spending package is approved; the last 30% was already funded earlier this month.
Government Funding Deal Struck Amidst Imminent Shutdown Threat
The Biden administration and House Republican leaders have agreed on a funding package but it remains unclear if it will reach US Congress before Saturday when several federal agencies are likely to run out of funds.
On Tuesday, President Biden confirmed the deal and called on lawmakers to expedite the process to prevent a partial government shutdown over the weekend. He stated, “We’ve agreed with congressional leaders on the remaining full-year funding bills. Now, the House and Senate are finalizing a swift package that I will sign immediately.”
The House Speaker, Republican Mike Johnson, verified the agreement on funding the department of homeland security for the rest of the fiscal year, the last hurdle in the discussions.
Negotiators had settled five of the six remaining appropriations bills. However, disagreements over border security funding delayed the announcement of the deal. The specific terms of the DHS deal will be reviewed once the legislation text is available.
“Drafting of the bill text has started in House and Senate committees. It will be ready for review and approval by the complete House and Senate shortly,” said Johnson on X, formerly Twitter.
Leaders are now racing to pass the funding bill before Saturday at 12.01am, when about 70% of the federal government will be forced to close unless another spending package is ratified. Earlier, Biden signed a bill to fund the remaining 30% of government till the end of the fiscal year, 30 September. But the departments of state, defense, labor, and education among others still face a funding crunch on Saturday.
The timeline is tight, as House Republican leaders aim to provide members at least 72 hours to review legislation before voting. Ideally, this sets the final House vote for Friday, leaving the Senate with limited hours to pass the bill before the shutdown deadline.
For this to work, all senators must unanimously agree on fast-tracking the bill’s passage. This could be challenging given past objections from some hard-right senators. If no agreement is reached, a brief shutdown may occur over the weekend, but the impact should be minimal as long as the Senate can pass the bill over the weekend.
Once Biden signs the spending bill, the federal government will be funded for the rest of the fiscal year. This resolution would end a long-standing deadlock that forced Congress to pass four interim spending bills since October. However, Congress won’t have much of a break. Hearings discussing next year’s budget are already scheduled this week.
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