The Senate takes key step to averting a partial government shutdown next week
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took a key step Thursday that may help avert a partial government shutdown next Friday.
He announced a motion that, under Senate rules, will be eligible for a vote early next week to potentially delay the scheduled stoppage.
"It has become crystal clear that it will take more than a week to finish the appropriations process,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday morning.
The procedural maneuver comes as tensions rise on Capitol Hill with yet another shutdown deadline looming on Jan. 19.
As in previous fights, the standoff shows a stark divide between the approaches coming from House Republicans led by House Speaker Mike Johnson and nearly all the other players at the negotiating table, including Senate Republicans.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has already offered his blessing for the notion of a short-term deal, telling reporters Tuesday that Congress will "obviously" have to pass yet another short-term funding measure.
What remains to be seen is whether Speaker Johnson softens his opposition to any short-term deal after weeks of repeatedly pledging he was "done" with these short-term continuing resolutions — the type of bill that averted government shutdowns in both October and November.
Johnson could also counter with his own short-term spending idea in the days ahead.
Schumer's bill unveiled Thursday is light on any details. It’s what’s known as a "shell bill" that will eventually be amended to include actual provisions. Schumer didn’t offer specifics in Thursday's speech but did announce that the Senate would likely vote on the measure as early as Tuesday after returning after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday.
Details that remain to be ironed out include whether the Senate will try to avert just the partial government shutdown set for next week or the full shutdown on Feb. 2 as well.
Also to be determined is whether Schumer's plan will try to delay a shutdown for only a few days or weeks or perhaps even longer — with the Senate GOP whip recently floating a possible timeline of March.
With no action, agencies from the Food and Drug Administration to the Energy and Transportation Departments are currently funded only until Jan. 19. Authorization for the remainder of Washington's discretionary spending expires just two weeks later.
Schumer on Thursday alluded to some of the potential costs of a shutdown: "How would it be good for the country to furlough food inspectors who ensure that the groceries we buy don't make us sick?"
The wild card: House Republicans
As usual, the question for the days ahead appears to be how far will House Republicans push their brinkmanship as Speaker Johnson oversees a divided caucus that appears all but certain to need Democratic votes to get anything passed.
In a recent press conference, Johnson reiterated the House GOP position was to fund the government through the formal appropriations process. But with little progress there, there is virtually no chance of that process finishing in time to avert a shutdown and the economic effects that could follow.
During his remarks Wednesday, Johnson did signal some new potential flexibility when, after being pressed by reporters, he refused to rule out the possibility of a short-term deal.
"I am not ruling out anything, committing to anything, other than getting these appropriations done," he said.
But any flexibility from Johnson might be limited by a revolt from far-right Republicans who are unhappy about the top-line spending deal he struck over the weekend. These far-right members even went so far as to tank a procedural vote Wednesday on an unrelated measure to show their disapproval.
The unhappiness has even included some members floating the possibility of removing Johnson as speaker, the same fate that befell Kevin McCarthy after he struck deals with the opposition party.
"I’m going to keep trudging forward," Johnson said Wednesday when asked about the opposition from his right flank.
For his part, former House Speaker McCarthy left Congress at the end of 2023 and has kept a low profile so far this year. He only popped up once to post on social media that he now had different day-to-day concerns.
"I’m on jury duty!" he wrote last week on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
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