November 15, 2023 01:58 PM UTC

Another Government Shutdown Appears Averted

• 4 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

As The Washington Post reports, the Senate is expected to vote soon on another “continuing resolution” so that the federal government does not shut down after midnight on Friday:

The Senate may vote as soon as Wednesday afternoon on legislation to extend funding for federal agencies, sending the bill to avert a government shutdown to President Biden’s desk just days before the weekend deadline.

The measure, called a continuing resolution or CR, would finance the government at current spending levels through a pair of staggered deadlines, Jan. 19 and Feb. 2. That is intended to give the House and Senate time to pass and negotiate full-year spending bills — though the two chambers are nowhere near an agreement on those — and avoid a massive year-end spending bill called an omnibus. It could still trigger two more standoffs that lead to partial government shutdowns early next year.

“The House’s CR is far from perfect, but we are moving forward because we believe it accomplishes two things that I and other Democrats have been insistent on for weeks: It will avoid a government shutdown, and it will do so without any of the cruel cuts or poison pills that the hard right pushed for,” Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor Wednesday.

Schumer and Senate Democrats are moving forward because they are adults who understand their responsibility for governing, rather than the nihilists like the MAGA Republicans over in the House of Representatives. On Tuesday, House Speaker “MAGA” Mike Johnson had to solicit help from Democrats in order to kick the budget can down the road a little further; Johnson was forced to work with Democrats when the Republican House Freedom Caucus decided to reject their own proposal.

As Caitlyn Kim explains for Colorado Public Radio, Democrats are more interested in doing their jobs than sending out fundraising emails:

“We certainly can’t allow the government to shut down,” said Crow.

Neguse, who is part of the Democratic House leadership team, said Democrats made it clear that they wanted to find common ground and avoid a shutdown.

“The fact that Republicans put forth a bill that ultimately included none of the problematic partisan policy riders that were included in prior iterations of the bill, and the fact that it includes funding at the fiscal year 2023 levels ultimately made it palatable for me and I think most members of our caucus,” he said.

In Washington jargon, the spending bill goes by a lot of names — a laddered CR or a step stool, or a two-step CR. Whatever it’s called, the continuing resolution will keep funding going at current levels into the new year, with money for different parts of the government running out on two different dates.

Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert and Ken Buck voted against the measure. 

Once the Senate approves the new “CR,” President Biden is expected to quickly sign it into law. Then we’ll start this whole process back up again in early January.

In the meantime, consult our handy chart here to see how your Member of Congress voted on November 14, 2023 on a continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown.

YES = Boo, shutdowns!

NO = Shut down the government, what do I care?