WASHINGTON — Congress has 12 days left to approve a short-term government funding bill before the shutdown deadline, though House Republican and Senate Democratic leaders have not yet felt the need to start negotiations.
Instead, House Republican leaders tried Wednesday to pass a six-month-old resolution that included a bill requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote, but failed.
202-220 The House vote, which had two House members participating and 14 Republicans in opposition, came shortly after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called on lawmakers to force a government shutdown as leverage to pass the voter ID bill.
“If Republicans will not pass the SAVE Act and do not fully understand it, they should not agree to a continuing resolution in any way,” Trump wrote on social media, repeating a government shutdown statement he made last week.
The failed vote in the House of Representatives could give Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, an opportunity to negotiate with the Senate.
But with a week to go before Congress ends its session and heads into a six-week election recess, there isn’t much time for leaders to reach a consensus, get a bill ready, hold votes in both chambers and get it signed by President Joe Biden.
Johnson, repeatedly asked by reporters on Wednesday about the possibility of a government shutdown, did not completely rule out a funding pause from October 1.
“We’ll see what happens with the bill,” Johnson said before the vote. “We’re on the field in the middle of the game, the quarterback calls the play, we’re going to make it.”
Blaming the Senate
Johnson criticized the Senate for failing to make further progress in the annual appropriations process, attempting to blame the chamber for the stopgap spending bill and possible shutdown.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved 11 bills this summer to fund the government for the full year by a majority vote, but ran into difficulties with funding for Homeland Security.
The House Appropriations Committee approved all dozen bills along party lines and was able to advance five of them with Republican support but without broad support from Democrats.
House and Senate leaders have not allowed both chambers to begin conference calls on bills that have passed committee or been rejected, even though that has happened regularly in recent years.
It is highly unlikely that leaders will file full-year spending bills this fall, making the election results the most essential piece of the puzzle that will change by the end of the calendar year.
McConnell: Shutdown Would Be ‘Politically, Beyond Stupid’
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has repeatedly urged his colleagues to avoid a government shutdown, though he has not engaged in negotiations on a stopgap bill and appears unwilling to do so.
“I think we have to wait and see what the House gives us first,” McConnell said during a news conference Tuesday. “My one observation about this whole discussion is that you can’t shut down the government. It would be politically intolerable if we did that right before the election because we would certainly get blamed.”
McConnell then addressed the saying that “there’s no education in the second kick of the mule” and noted that funding the government for the next several months “will ultimately become a discussion” between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Johnson.
“I am for anything that avoids a government shutdown,” McConnell added.
Election year drama
Relying on a stopgap spending bill has been a regular part of Congress’s annual appropriations process for nearly three decades. During that time, lawmakers have consistently failed to approve all year-round government funding bills by the Oct. 1 deadline.
The September scramble to approve a continuing resolution that is meant to give lawmakers a little more time to reach a bicameral agreement on year-long spending bills has grown increasingly dramatic as election-year politics have hardened attitudes this year.
In divided government, any legislation that affects government funding must be bipartisan, or it will almost certainly shut down.
Most Senate Republicans also did not support the six-month continuing resolution rejected by the House of Representatives.
Republican senators argued it was too long and could make it harder for the chamber to confirm the next president’s Cabinet in the first few months of 2025.
Senate Republicans and defense hawks in the House have also said leaving the Defense Department on autopilot for half of the next fiscal year would amount to an abdication of responsibility by Congress and pose a threat to national security.
December end date under the microscope
The last stopgap spending bill that Congress will approve in the coming days will likely run through Dec. 20, the last day this year that Congress is scheduled to be in session. It is also unlikely to include a voter ID component.
The final bipartisan resolution could also include increased spending for the Secret Service or a provision allowing the agency to more quickly issue transient funds to bolster Trump’s protection following two alleged assassination attempts on his life.
Florida Republican Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, chairman of the House Foreign and State Operations Spending Panel, said Wednesday that if he were a gambler, he would expect Congress to pass a stopgap spending bill by mid-December.
“First of all, we can’t have a lockdown,” Díaz-Balart said. “I think most people here understand that would be catastrophic, especially when half the world is in flames.”
During the government shutdown, some federal workers are still reporting to the office without pay, while the rest are on forced leave until Congress approves a up-to-date funding bill. All federal workers affected by the shutdown are receiving back pay.
The October closure will affect all departments and agencies funded through the annual process, including Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and State.
Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson, chairman of the House Environment and Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, said he was confident there would be no government shutdown but did not provide details on how Congress would broker a bipartisan deal in the coming days.
“I don’t think anyone wants to shut down the government,” Simpson said. “That’s not a viable option.”
