2023-11-10 18:30:48
© Reuters. US House Speaker Mike Johnson walks through the Capitol 10/26/2023 REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger
By David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republicans who control the U.S. House of Representatives plan to announce a spending measure on Saturday aimed at avoiding a government shutdown by keeping federal agencies open when current funding expires next Friday.
A source familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said plans to release the continuing resolution, or “CR,” were still underway. It was also unclear what form the measure would take.
House Speaker Mike Johnson spent days talking to members of his narrow 221-212 seat Republican majority about various CR options. The Democratic-controlled House and Senate need to reach an agreement on a bill that President Joe Biden can sign into law before current funding expires on Nov. 17.
With a possible shutdown just days away, some Republicans have been calling for a “clean” CR that would run by mid-January and that would not have spending cuts or conservative policies that Democrats oppose.
But extremist lawmakers continue to push for a measure with spending cuts, policies that include tighter security on the U.S.-Mexico border and an unorthodox structure with staggered deadlines for different segments of the federal budget.
Many lawmakers warn that a prolonged partisan fight over a stopgap measure could prevent Congress from avoiding a shutdown.
As House Republicans debated their options this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took a first procedural step toward approving his own stopgap measure.
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