The Senate on Tuesday, January 16th, voted 68 to 13 to progress a temporary funding extension, crucial for averting a potential partial government shutdown set for the end of the week.
The Senate decision comes as lawmakers work against time to meet a critical Friday deadline, facing challenges to avoid a shutdown.
Congressional leaders, having declared the short-term funding extension over the weekend, have outlined two impending funding deadlines: March 1 and March 8.
The extension is intended to allow sufficient time for the negotiation and passage of full-year appropriations bills.
For the Senate, a consensus on timing is imperative to schedule a final vote before Friday.
Any objections from senators could delay proceedings and risk a shutdown. Following Senate approval, the House must also pass the measure.
Senate Majority Leader Schumer stressed the necessity of bipartisan cooperation in both the Senate and House.
“If both sides continue to work in good faith, I’m hopeful that we can wrap up work on the CR no later than Thursday,” he remarked, referring to the continuing resolution.
Emphasizing the bipartisan nature of the process, he noted, “The key to finishing our work this week will be bipartisan cooperation in both chambers. You can’t pass these bills without support from Republicans and Democrats in both the House and the Senate.”
In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson grapples with a slender majority and opposition from conservative factions.
Johnson, already under scrutiny from conservatives for a spending deal close to $1.66 trillion negotiated with Schumer, faces criticism for the proposed short-term funding extension.
The far-right House Freedom Caucus labeled it as a form of surrender.
Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has warned of calling for a vote to remove Johnson if he proposes any Ukraine aid in exchange for changes in immigration policy, regardless of the deal’s specifics.
Greene, in an interview with Fox News, stated, “The Republican speaker of the House and any Republican, or really anyone elected to serve in the United States Congress, should be protecting America’s national security interests. And they would never vote for that deal. And that’s why I told Speaker Johnson [that] if he made that deal in exchange for $60 billion for Ukraine, I would vacate the chair.”
Johnson’s predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, also encountered opposition from hardline conservatives, which ultimately led to his loss of the speakership.
Johnson, defending the agreement, stated that the short-term bill is essential “to complete what House Republicans are working hard to achieve: an end to governance by omnibus, meaningful policy wins, and better stewardship of American tax dollars.”
This year, lawmakers face not one but two government shutdown deadlines, on January 19 and February 2.
Previous stopgap legislation passed in November extended government funding until January 19 for several key areas, including military construction and veterans’ affairs, with the rest of the government funded until February 2.
