Congress Approves Funding to Avert Government Shutdown

“Instead of wasting more time on partisan appropriations bills that violate the budget agreement two-thirds of them voted for last spring, House Republicans must finally do their job and work across the aisle to pass full-year funding bills,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement emailed to reporters shortly after the House vote.

The short-term package is meant to give lawmakers time to complete negotiations on annual funding for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

Yet six weeks of funding to March 1 may not be enough time to work out remaining differences. The House is scheduled to be on break for three of those weeks, raising prospects for yet another short-term spending bill.

“I think that’s where we’re headed unless something dramatic happens,” Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said Thursday.

Leaders in both parties have agreed on an effective $1.66 trillion spending cap for the year but still are negotiating how to distribute the money among government departments and programs. They also have to resolve conservative demands to attach policies like immigration and abortion restrictions to the bills and funding for lawmakers’ individual pet projects.

If the government is operating under interim funding on April 30, automatic across-the-board spending cuts would be triggered under provisions in last June’s debt ceiling compromise. That threat could spur lawmakers to finally settle 2024 spending.

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