Congressional leaders in the House and Senate have reached a deal on a spate of appropriations bills, clearing the way for a short-term spending patch that would extend funding deadlines further into March.
Appropriators finalized the agreement on Wednesday, two sources told the Washington Examiner, just three days before the government is set to enter a partial shutdown. The proposal would maintain the two-pronged deadlines Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has advocated but would extend the dates slightly to give lawmakers time to finalize the legislative text and bring them to the floor for votes.
Under the plan, the deadline for six appropriations bills — Agriculture; Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development; Energy and Water; Interior and Environment; and Commerce, Justice, and Science — would be moved to March 8. The remaining six, which are among the more controversial, would be extended to March 22.
It’s not clear whether the first appropriations bills will be voted on separately ahead of next week’s proposed deadline or if lawmakers will seek to advance the legislation in a minibus that packages them all in a single vote. House Republicans have repeatedly pushed for individual votes, and the extended timeline could make that more feasible, at least in the lower chamber. However, congressional leaders expressed openness last week to moving forward with a minibus if needed given the procedural hurdles in the Senate.
The framework comes one day after Johnson met with President Joe Biden and other congressional leaders to discuss a path forward on appropriations ahead of the looming deadline. Johnson emerged from that meeting confident that Congress would avoid a temporary lapse in funding over the weekend.
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The continuing resolution itself is still forthcoming but is expected to attract the bipartisan support needed to pass under suspension of rules, which requires a two-thirds vote of the House.
The Senate would then need to fast-track the bill to avoid a partial government shutdown at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday. If even one senator objects, it could delay passage for days before it’s brought to the floor for a final vote.