Senate and House set for showdown over CR package
Lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled Senate unveiled a “clean” continuing resolution (CR) on Tuesday in an attempt to prevent a government shutdown by Saturday’s deadline. The measure is designed to fund the government until November 17.
The CR successfully cleared a key procedural hurdle in the upper chamber on Tuesday afternoon by a vote of 77 to 19, effectively ending debate on the proposal and allowing it to proceed to a final vote.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., expressed his satisfaction with the progress, saying, “All weekend — night and day — Senate Democrats and Republicans worked in good faith to reach an agreement on a continuing resolution that would keep the government going. Funded and a shutdown avoided.”
The short-term CR includes an allocation of $6.2 billion for Ukraine, representing an $18 billion decrease from President Joe Biden’s request to Congress in August. Additionally, $6 billion has been earmarked for natural disaster funds. Notably, unlike the House-passed version, the CR contains no supplemental funding for border security.
With the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, both the House and Senate must reach an agreement on government funding to avoid the possibility of a partial government shutdown.
Despite progress in the Senate, the CR’s fate remains uncertain as it lacks unanimous consent from the upper chamber. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has already announced his opposition to any funding patch that includes aid for Ukraine, potentially missing the CR deadline.
“I will oppose any attempt to hold the federal government hostage to funding Ukraine, and I will not agree to accelerate any spending action that would further provide US aid to Ukraine,” Rand X posted on Twitter, formerly known as Twitter.
Moreover, the Senate’s proposed CR differs significantly from its GOP-led House counterpart. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has suggested handling aid to Ukraine as a separate stand-alone bill and suggested the House not vote on the Senate-authored CR.
McCarthy said the House would vote on the short-term spending bill shortly after holding a key vote Tuesday night to continue the four-year term bills.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy expressed the Republican plan to address border security, saying, “Republicans will put forward a move to secure our border. I think this is the right way to fund the government, to secure the border. We’ll keep the government open to work through the rest of the appropriations process,” he said this morning. In his comments to reporters.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer underscored the urgency of the situation Tuesday, saying on the Senate floor that “we are now at a precipice.”
Schumer described the bilateral CR as a temporary solution, describing it as “a bridge away from cooperation and extremism.” He noted that this would enable ongoing efforts to fully fund the federal government and avoid the hardship of a government shutdown for American families.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., expressed the Republican stance on the matter, stressing the importance of providing relief to communities affected by natural disasters and the importance of continuing to provide aid and bilateral recognition of the need to address Russia and China. To Ukraine.
McConnell reiterated his long-held view that government shutdowns are harmful regardless of one’s perspective and should not be used as political bargaining tools.
The House is planning to discuss four different appropriation bills on Tuesday evening. However, it is uncertain whether House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will get enough votes to advance these bills, as he will only lose a small number of Republican votes.