Congressional leaders in the House and Senate have reached a deal on a spate of appropriations bills, clearing the way for a short-term spending patch that would extend funding deadlines further into March.
Appropriators finalized the agreement on Wednesday, two sources told the Washington Examiner, just three days before the government is set to enter a partial shutdown. The proposal would maintain the two-pronged deadlines Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has advocated but would extend the dates slightly to give lawmakers time to finalize the legislative text and bring them to the floor for votes.
“We are in agreement that Congress must work in a bipartisan manner to fund our government,” congressional leaders said in a joint statement on Wednesday announcing the deal. “To give the House and Senate Appropriations Committees adequate time to execute on this deal in principle, including drafting, preparing report language, scoring and other technical matters, and to allow members 72 hours to review, a short-term continuing resolution to fund agencies through March 8 and the 22 will be necessary, and voted on by the House and Senate this week.”
The House is expected to vote on the CR at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, a source familiar with the vote schedule told the Washington Examiner. If the bill passes, the House will be sent home for an early recess and Friday votes will be canceled.
Under the agreement, the deadline for six appropriations bills — Agriculture; Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development; Energy and Water; Interior and Environment; and Commerce, Justice, and Science — would be moved to March 8. The remaining six, which are among the more controversial, would be extended to March 22.
The first six appropriations bills are expected to be advanced as a package to be voted and enacted by the first date, according to congressional leaders. It’s not entirely clear whether the second round of bills will be voted on separately ahead or if lawmakers will also combine them into a single vote.
House Republicans have repeatedly pushed for individual votes, and the extended timeline could make that more feasible, at least in the lower chamber. However, congressional leaders expressed openness last week to moving forward with a minibus if needed given the procedural hurdles in the Senate.
The framework comes one day after Johnson met with President Joe Biden and other congressional leaders to discuss a path forward on appropriations ahead of the looming deadline. Johnson emerged from that meeting confident that Congress would avoid a temporary lapse in funding over the weekend.
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The continuing resolution itself is still forthcoming but is expected to attract the bipartisan support needed to pass under suspension of rules, which requires a two-thirds vote of the House.
The Senate would then need to fast-track the bill to avoid a partial government shutdown at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday. If even one senator objects, it could delay passage for days before it’s brought to the floor for a final vote.
