The Senate voted to approve a continuing resolution (CR) Thursday afternoon. The stopgap funding keeps the government running until December 16, and passage through the upper chamber came just a day before the Friday, September 30 deadline, when the already appropriated money runs out. The House will almost certainly pass the measure on Friday, avoiding shutdown without long days or even weeks arguing back and forth. But don’t worry – there’s still plenty of partisanship and petty politicking to go around.
Smooth Sailing in the Senate – Sort Of
Back when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) needed 100% participation by the Democratic side of the aisle to pass – with VP Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote, of course – the Inflation Reduction Act, he bought Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) vote by promising a chance at energy permitting reform. That chance came this week, as the Senate prepared to consider what had been called a must-pass legislation to reduce the time allowed government agencies to review permits for power plants.
But the progressives in Congress – both the Senate and the House – hated the idea of giving fossil fuel companies a win. With the support of the GOP and the more moderate Democrats, however, it could have cleared relatively easily. But it simply wasn’t meant to be, it seems. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urged his party to vote against it, ostensibly because Manchin’s bill didn’t go far enough, and because Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, the Republican senator from West Virginia, had an energy bill of her own that he saw as better.
Perhaps that really was McConnell’s reasoning – or maybe he and his colleagues were still sore about Manchin changing his mind on the Inflation Reduction Act. Several pundits posit that the GOP balking at Manchin’s measure was simple revenge: He betrayed them, so they returned the favor. Whatever the motive, Manchin recognized his bill was doomed. Rather than fight for it and tie up the funding CR – quite likely becoming the face of the then inevitable shutdown – he withdrew the legislation on Tuesday.
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
After that slightly rocky shoal, it was smooth sailing through the Senate. Thursday afternoon’s vote saw the can labeled “annual funding” kicked down the road to December 16 – guaranteeing that no senator from either side must bear the blame for a government shutdown, at least not until they’re either safely re-elected or replaced anyway. The final vote was a quite bipartisan 72-25.
Stopgap Funding for What?
The primary function of the spending package is to fund the federal government through December 16, avoiding an embarrassing and costly shutdown right before the midterms. But that’s not all. It also includes $12 billion in additional aid for Ukraine, $2.5 billion in aid to New Mexico for recovery after a wildfire, $1 billion in funding for a low-income home heating program, and $20 million in emergency funds to address the water crisis in Jackson, MS. The FDA user fees are also reauthorized for another five years.
The Biden administration had also requested money for COVID-19 and monkeypox vaccines, testing, and treatment. That, however, did not make the cut in the final deal.
Headed for Heat in the House?
The House is expected to vote on the stopgap funding measure Friday, September 30 – the last day of the fiscal year – and it seems predestined to pass. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) promised to lead the GOP in opposition, in hopes of using the impending shutdown as leverage to demand increased border security, but when McConnell refused to take up the cause, it took all the teeth out of McCarthy’s bite.
Without Manchin’s controversial regulatory reform attached, there’s little reason for House Democrats to oppose it, no matter how radically progressive. McCarthy can acquire the full backing of every Republican in the chamber, and it will make no difference at all. He can oppose – vociferously and until he’s blue in the face, if he feels the need – but he simply lacks the numbers to stop the Democrats from passing whatever bill or resolution they like through the House. And avoiding a shutdown right before the midterms while they’re on the defensive is an option they’re sure to like.