In good news, Congress is on track to pass a short-term funding bill that will keep the government open and prevent a shutdown ahead of a deadline this week. In potentially more concerning news, however, the bill only postpones a full debate on government spending, setting up what could be a truly contentious funding fight in the new year.
This week, the House approved a two-step short-term funding bill, also known as a continuing resolution, or CR. The bill will keep the government funded at current levels and does not include any new spending cuts. It also doesn’t contain new spending requests, meaning no new Israel aid — which has bipartisan support — or Ukraine aid, which has some Republican backing but is opposed by other conservatives.
The bill’s approach is rare in that it sets two different deadlines for figuring out a long-term funding plan: Funding for some sections of government — transportation, housing, energy, agriculture, and veterans’ affairs — will expire January 19, and funding for other sections — including defense — will expire February 2. The legislation now heads to the Senate, which is expected to approve it.
House Republicans’ goal behind proposing this staggered approach is to prevent the passage of a massive omnibus package that includes all the spending bills at the same time. Republicans claim they are opposed to omnibuses due to their scale, and the fact that they tend to force a quick vote on a large swath of funding right before the winter holidays. By using what they’ve described as a “laddered” approach, the GOP hopes to have more time to negotiate over individual bills and their specific priorities. The long-term goal is to use that process to make deep cuts into government spending, an effort opposed by Democrats and the Biden White House.
In the near term, lawmakers’ actions bode well for ensuring that agencies and government services stay open and functional, and that government staff don’t…
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