The House and Senate have a plan to keep the government running until right before Christmas
House and Senate leaders agreed Monday on a deal to fund the federal government until Dec. 20, avoiding a government shutdown that would have begun Friday morning.
The stopgap funding resolution, expected to come up for a House vote on Tuesday, contains several additions requested by Democrats, Politico reports: a 3.1 military pay raise, $7.5 billion to fully fund the Census Bureau for its 2020 decennial census, and a measure to avoid a $7.6 billion cut to state highway funds next summer. It does not contain money Democrats has sought for historically black colleges and universities nor any funds for President Trump's border wall. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin agreed last week to postpone the inevitable border wall fight.
"Neither the White House nor congressional leaders believe a shutdown will occur — especially as House Democrats move forward with an impeachment inquiry against the president," Politico reports. "But nearly two months into the new government fiscal year, no progress has been made on any of the 12 annual spending bills."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said Monday night that the spending talks have been "frustrating" and his preference was for a "clean" funding bill with no add-ons. "The tenor has been good, the tone of negotiations have been good," he said. "The results are puny." The panel's top Democrat, Sen. Patrick Leahy (Vt.), also seemed disappointed in the lack of progress: "I think we could have reached an agreement a month ago, and we should have."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country



