US Congress Unveils Temporary Spending Bill to Avert Shutdown

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(Bloomberg) — US lawmakers released a stopgap spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown on Jan. 20, greatly reducing the chances of a closure but risking conservative Republican ire against House Speaker Mike Johnson.

The temporary spending bill would extend funds for some agencies that face a Jan. 20 deadline through March 1 and for others that face a Feb. 2 deadline through March. 8. The Senate will begin procedural votes on the bill, known as a continuing resolution, on Tuesday and will require cooperation among the 100 senators to pass it before the deadline. 

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“To avoid a shutdown, it will take bipartisan cooperation in the Senate and the House to quickly pass the CR and send it to the President’s desk before Friday’s funding deadline,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. 

While the bill preserves a bifurcated approach to the 12 annual spending bills favored by Johnson as a way to avoid a catch-all package, or omnibus, it violates the speaker’s pledge in November to refuse to support any more temporary funding.

Johnson, a Republican, last week defied hardliners in his party by sticking to a spending-cap deal with Schumer, setting an effective limit on discretionary spending of $1.66 trillion for the current US fiscal year. House Freedom Caucus Republicans have sought at least $70 billion in lower spending and some have hinted at ousting the speaker for staying with the deal. 

“This is what surrender looks like,” the House Freedom Caucus said on the social media platform X Sunday night.

Johnson defended the deal late Sunday, saying it eliminates the “worst” budget gimmicks and paves the way for passage of spending measures.  

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Ultraconservative Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene made it clear on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures that she isn’t threatening to oust the speaker over a stopgap bill. She said she would only force a vote on his speakership if he struck a border security deal with Democrats that she rejects, which also funds aid to Ukraine. 

“I told Speaker Johnson, if he made that deal in exchange for $60 billion for Ukraine, I would vacate the chair, and I still stand by those words,” she said.

It would only take four Republicans voting together with all Democrats to remove Johnson from his position and grind the House to a halt, as occurred in October when former speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted over a short-term spending bill that averted an Oct. 1 shutdown. 

Johnson has demanded a full array of conservative migration policies be attached to any Ukraine bill without hinting he would be willing to compromise. A bipartisan group of senators working on a border bill has yet to propose any compromise despite weeks of work. 

Read more: White House Tells Agencies to Prep for Shutdown Amid House Chaos

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Under the temporary bill, funding for the departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development would be extended through March 1. The rest of government, including the Defense Department, would be funded through March 8. 

The temporary bill is needed because even with a spending cap agreement, lawmakers still need to negotiate, write and pass 12 full-year funding bills. They have yet to agree on how to divide up the alloted funds among 12 bills, let alone among thousands of specific programs. 

Conservative demands to attach policies ranging from banning abortion drugs to cutting the salary of Homeland Security officials must also be reckoned with, along with hundreds of earmarked pet-project requests from individual lawmakers. 

The bill does not contain a proposed tax cut agreement that is in the works between Republicans and Democrats. Negotiators are hoping to seal a deal that would expand the child tax credit and a trio of business tax breaks in time for the Jan. 29 start of tax season. Forgoing the opportunity to attach it to the must-pass spending bill could threaten the measure being held up in either chamber by opponents.

Read more: US Economy Set for Another Cash Boost If Congress Backs Tax Deal

Tax bill proponents could look to Federal Aviation Administration fee extension legislation as an opportunity to attach their proposal to a must-pass bill. 

—With assistance from Billy House.

(Updates with HFC reaction in fifth paragraph)

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