Congress Reaches Deal To Avert Government Shutdown For 9 More Days — Teeing Up Another Clash

Topline

Lawmakers announced late Tuesday they reached an agreement on a short-term budget deal to avert a government shutdown for another week after the existing funding bill expires on Friday, and the House is expected to vote on the package as early as Wednesday–but negotiations on a long-term measure are still playing out.

Key Facts

Congress reached a bipartisan “framework” on a 2023 funding plan, Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said in a statement Tuesday, adding that the short-term measure–which maintains fiscal year 2022 funding levels and will remain in effect through December 23– should give lawmakers enough time to iron out a full plan for 2023.

While lawmakers have revealed few details about the new fiscal year 2023 plan, including a topline figure, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters Tuesday he expects it to include additional funding for Ukraine and reforms to the Electoral Count Act–which would clarify and strengthen the process for certifying the results of a presidential election to avoid a repeat of former President Donald Trump’s attempts in 2021 to overturn the results.

Republican leaders are split on their next move: While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has expressed hopes that Congress will make a deal on an omnibus package, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said “hell no” to any long-term agreement in a meeting Tuesday, Politico reported.

McCarthy’s stance would appease the coalition of conservatives advocating for Republican leaders to push negotiations on a full-year spending deal until next year, when they will have more leverage in a Republican-controlled House.

Since the House could pass a measure now with its Democratic majority, McCarthy’s opposition is unlikely to affect the vote outcome, but it does help him curry favor with the conservative faction of House members who are threatening to vote against him for speaker next year.

But to pass the Senate, the measure needs the support of 10 GOP members, along with votes from all Democrats, to reach the 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster, and McConnell is responsible for recruiting those GOP votes.

Key Background

Locked in a stalemate over about $26 billion of the approximately $1.7 trillion package, Congressional leaders announced late Sunday they had made some progress over the weekend on reaching an agreement. The hang-up was largely over what’s referred to as “non-defense spending,” which includes funding for Democratic policies that House Republicans will try to roll back next year: climate initiatives, Covid-19 funding and an expansion of the child tax-credit act, among others.

Tangent

Pushing negotiations into next year could set the stage for a government shutdown if conservative House lawmakers withhold their votes on a full-year budget in hopes of forcing leadership to cave to their demands. Under a slim Republican majority in the House, which will be split 222-213, Republicans could afford to lose only four votes or Congress would need to reach a bipartisan agreement. Any measure that passes the GOP-controlled House, also must be palatable to Democrats in order to pass the Senate, where the party will hold the supermajority. The dynamics would create a messy start for McCarthy if he is elected speaker and could taint his public image if the government is forced to shut down.

What To Watch For

Whether lawmakers will pass another short-term measure, known as a “continuing resolution” that extends into next year, a new omnibus deal or a continuing resolution that lasts the entirety of the current fiscal year. The government has been operating under a continuing resolution since fiscal year 2022 expired on September 30.

Contra

Heads of government agencies are strongly opposed to anything other than an omnibus package, since continuing resolutions do not increase their budgets from current levels. Attorney General Merrick Garland, in a letter to Congressional leaders on Tuesday, urged them to move forward with a full-year deal that meets the agency’s request for $37.7 billion in Department of Justice funding for fiscal year 2023, Punchbowl reported.

Surprising Fact

Congress has not passed an omnibus deal in a lame-duck session after one chamber has flipped control in three decades, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who is among the conservative arguing to push negotiations on an omnibus bill into 2023, recently told reporters.

Further Reading

Congress Has Just Five Days To Avert A Government Shutdown—Here’s Where Negotiations Stand (Forbes)

Top appropriators clinch deal on government funding framework (Politico)