Politics

Congress moves toward short-term funding bill to prevent shutdown

Sahil Kapur
WATCH LIVE
The US Capitol building in Washington, DC, on December 2, 2021.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images

Congressional leaders are moving toward passing a stopgap bill as early as this week to prevent a government shutdown as negotiations continue on a full funding deal.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the House will probably pass a "short-term" continuing resolution "this coming week" to buy time.

"Negotiations are very vigorous, and I think that we're going to get agreement both on the top line, how much spending is going to be, and how it will be spent," Hoyer said Sunday on MSNBC's "The Sunday Show."

"But it's not there yet so I expect to do a continuing resolution to continue the authorization for government to operate and be funded this coming week, and hopefully the Senate will do the same," he said.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said he hasn't given up on reaching a larger deal.

"There's still time," he said Thursday. "We're still talking."

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a senior appropriator and member of GOP leadership, said some senators in his caucus prefer to keep the government funded at existing levels, which date back to the Trump administration.

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But he said they also want more spending on the military.

"Can't have it all the ways," Blunt said.

Blunt said it's an "open question" how long the stopgap bill would run.

"My view would be to keep it as short as you can," he said. "We still have a likelihood of getting the final bill done."