Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) took to the Senate floor late Monday afternoon, calling on their colleagues to work together to pass funding bills for several key government agencies before a Friday deadline to prevent a government shutdown.
Funding for the departments of Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs is set to run out by the end of the week. Then, the following week, the funding for the bulk of the other government agencies will expire if Congress fails to act.
“I am hopeful that pragmatic Republicans will engage in responsible governance by working with Democrats to avoid a shutdown this week,” Schumer said, speaking on the Senate floor. “Senate Democrats want to do the right thing and keep the government open. I hope the House continues to work with us in good faith to make that happen, but time is short.”
“While we’ve made some good progress on a number of fronts, our House Republican colleagues are still struggling to figure themselves out,” Schumer added. “There’s a lot of uncertainty about how the House will proceed in the coming days.”
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Schumer had hoped to announce a deal Sunday on four appropriations bills that account for 20% of government spending, but no deal was reached, with each side accusing the other of playing politics.
The New York senator, who just returned from leading a congressional delegation to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, challenged Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to take up a $95 billion foreign aid bill the Senate recently passed, which includes funding for Ukraine.
“I urge Speaker Johnson to go visit and see what I saw. No person of any decent conscience and sight would vote no if they saw what we saw,” Schumer said.
McConnell also advocated fiercely against shutting down the government, arguing that it never produces a good outcome politically or policywise.
“We have the means and just enough time this week to avoid a shutdown and to make serious headway on annual appropriations. But, as always, the task at hand will require that everyone rows in the same direction, toward clean appropriations and away from poison pills,” McConnell said on the Senate floor on Monday.
Some lawmakers are concerned that demands from House Republicans to include certain policy provisions in the funding that Democrats object to could cause further delay, like defunding diversity programs, blocking the Biden administration’s climate-related initiatives, and restricting access to abortion.
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It’s unclear how congressional leaders will navigate through the standoff, the fourth time since October that Congress has worked to avoid a government funding deadline. Lawmakers have attempted to kick the can down the road, allowing themselves more time to negotiate long-term funding bills on three different occasions.
Johnson and Schumer will meet with President Joe Biden as well as McConnell and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Tuesday to further discuss the looming shutdown deadline. It’s unclear whether lawmakers will focus on passing the individual spending bills ahead of the deadline or if they’ll advance a stopgap measure to buy more time.