2023-07-29 20:42:02
WASHINGTON (AP) — US lawmakers began their August recess this week with work on government funding largely incomplete, fueling concerns about whether Congress will be able to avoid a partial government shutdown in October.
Congress has until October 1, the start of the new fiscal year, to take action on government funding. They could pass bills to fund government agencies through next year, or just pass a stopgap measure that keeps the agencies running until they reach a longer-term deal. Whichever path they take, it will not be easy.
“We’re going to scare the American people a lot before we get there,” said Democratic Sen. Chris Coons.
Coons’ assessment is widely shared in Congress, reflecting the gulf between the Republican-led House of Representatives and the Democratic-led Senate, which are charting vastly different – and mostly irreconcilable – paths on budget matter.
The Senate is sticking for the most part to the spending levels that President Joe Biden negotiated with House Republicans in late May as part of the debt-limit deal that expanded the government’s borrowing capacity and avoided a financially devastating default.
That deal keeps discretionary spending broadly unchanged for next year while allowing increases for military and veteran accounts. In addition, the Senate intends to add $13.7 billion in additional emergency appropriations, including $8 billion for defense and $5.7 billion for other issues.
House Republicans, many of whom opposed the debt-limit deal and refused to vote on it, are going another way.
GOP leaders have crafted bills with far less budget than the deal allows in an effort to win over members who insist on cutting spending to fiscal year 2022 levels. They are also adding dozens of political clauses to the bills. which is widely opposed by Democrats. There are proposals to reduce access to abortion pills, a ban on funding hormone therapy and certain surgeries for transgender veterans, and a ban on training programs that promote diversity in federal employment, among many others.
#Legislators #recess #work #incomplete #budget