(Sept 23): Congressional leaders unveiled a stopgap funding bill Sunday to temporarily keep the US government’s doors open through Dec 20, as negotiators aim to avert an Oct 1 shutdown and set the stage for a funding showdown shortly before Christmas.
The bill would keep the federal government running at existing funding levels, with few exceptions. The US Secret Service would get extra money to protect presidential candidates after a second assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump. The measure excludes a GOP bill to require voters to show proof of citizenship, after Republicans failed to pass a previous version tied to a stopgap funding bill.
Lawmakers aim to vote by Wednesday on the measure, a House Republican leadership aide told reporters Sunday. The House Rules Committee will meet Monday to consider the bill, according to the panel’s website.
The measure also excludes additional money for the Navy’s Virginia-class submarines and for disaster aid, setting the stage for further negotiations in December.
In a letter to colleagues on Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson described the continuing resolution as “a very narrow, bare-bones CR including only the extensions that are absolutely necessary.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he’s pleased that bipartisan talks led to a deal “free of cuts and poison pills,” while saying that Johnson and House Republicans “wasted precious time” earlier on.
The bill includes US$231 million (RM969.6 million) in additional funds for the Secret Service. It also places conditions on the funding, requiring the agency to cooperate with the House task force currently investigating the first assassination attempt of the former president.
The bill omits the Save Act, a partisan Republican bill to require proof of citizenship to vote. Johnson attempted to push through a six-month continuing resolution tied to the Save Act last week, but the bill failed on the House floor amid intra-party GOP feuding and Democratic opposition.
The bill would replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund, while excluding an extra US$10 billion in disaster aid that was tied to the original House stopgap that failed.
Also missing is funding for the Navy’s Virginia-class submarines, the new generation of nuclear-powered subs manufactured by General Dynamics Corp and HII. The Navy is currently estimated to run US$17 billion over its planned budget through 2030. House Republican leadership also plans to have appropriators address the shortfall in the next spending deliberations.
Republicans aim to pass the bill through the regular process, including consideration by the Rules Committee, the House GOP leadership aide said.
Representative Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters Friday it’s more likely that members will pass it under suspension of the rules, a faster process that requires a two-thirds supermajority in the House.
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