The Senate overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan measure funding federal agencies until mid-December early on Saturday morning, putting Congress on track to avert a government shutdown in October and kicking funding negotiations until after the midterm elections.
Senators voted 90-6 to approve a bill that extends current funding levels through Dec. 11, with some exceptions. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters that the measure is a positive step after a number of government shutdowns over the past year.
“I believe that we all want to make sure that we have good funding through Dec. 11 and hopefully we’ll be able to negotiate good bills once the elections are over,” Murray said.
The Senate’s stopgap funding bill, though, is different from the version the House passed in July. The Senate measure includes a provision Democrats demanded that would delay a Trump administration rule putting political appointees in charge of issuing grants.
Trending
It’s unclear whether House Republicans will take up the Senate’s bill when the chamber returns in September –– the House and Senate must approve identical funding packages in order to avoid a government shutdown.
“Many of us felt very strongly about it, so it’s in there,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who chairs the Appropriations panel, told reporters of the grant provision. “Our focus is on getting the continuing resolution through and preventing a government shutdown.”
The vote on the continuing resolution was delayed for several days, in part over a provision that pushes back the date a ban on intoxicating hemp is implemented. Senators voted an amendment that failed to implement those restrictions come October alongside the funding bill.
The Senate also punted a vote a party-line budget bill that would have kick-started the process to fund some of Republicans’ most pressing priorities, including the war in Iran and new voter ID requirements demanded by President Donald Trump.
Senators on both sides of the aisle seem to be gearing up for a bigger fight over funding in December. Any government spending bill needs 60 votes to pass in the upper chamber, giving Democrats some leverage.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), another appropriator, told reporters that he and other Republicans are prepared to fight to reinstate the Trump administration’s language on grants after the midterms.
Kennedy added that it’s his understanding that federal agencies would not have been able to implement the rule by December, regardless of the delay included in the Senate’s funding bill.
“This CR only extends until December 11, but I’m not going to be surprised if we don’t have another CR after,” Kennedy said. “And I’m going to fight like hell to make sure there is no impediment to the rule, because it’s a good rule.”
Senate Democrats agreed they expect the provision to become a sticking point in December. Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, another appropriator, told NOTUS that he wants to see Democrats push back on any effort to revive the administration’s grant rule.
“One of the things that I thought was really important was Sen. Collins and Sen. Murray were able to come to an agreement to defer a really destructive [Office of Management and Budget] rule,” Coons said. “That rule should never be allowed to come into force.”
Murray said Democrats are focused on pushing their funding priorities forward in December, adding that she thinks the biggest outstanding question is how much to spend on defense, given the continued U.S. war against Iran.
“We need to find a defense, non-defense top line that is rational and that we can work with,” Murray said.
Defense spending has already become an issue for some Democrats. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine opposed the funding bill, saying he will not vote for government funding until the war in Iran is finished.
Kaine said he isn’t expecting other Democrats to join him in voting down government funding over the war, but added that the power of the purse is an important negotiation point for Democrats.
“It’s the only tool we have,” Kaine told NOTUS. “I think the work product is great. It’s just that I don’t feel comfortable giving a green light to a whole lot of government funding in the middle of an illegal war.”
West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a top Republican leader, said the next round of negotiations on government funding will probably come down to one thing.
“There’s always sticking points,” Capito said. “A lot of it is going to depend on who wins the election.”
Author
