WASHINGTON — The countdown clock is on to avoid another partial government shutdown. Lawmakers have until midnight to pass a funding bill.
Members of Congress presented a $1.2 trillion bipartisan spending package Thursday that seems to have broad support. If passed, it would ensure the government is funded through the fiscal year, which ends on September 30.
“We don’t want to shut down the government," Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer (D) said. "It’s going to cause huge problems for everybody.”
The spending package includes $824.3 billion for the Department of Defense, $90 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, $19.6 billion for Customs and Border Protection, and $495 million for additional border patrol agents.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans praised the bill as well.
"I'm predisposed. We want to keep the government funded," Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy said.
Speaker Johnson released a statement that reads in part, the legislation is “a serious commitment to strengthening our national defense by moving the Pentagon toward a focus on its core mission while expanding support for our brave men and women who serve in uniform.”
Even if Congress does pass the spending package by Friday night, clerks still have to prepare it for President Biden to sign -- and then he has to sign it. Any delay in passing it could delay its implementation.
If they fail to pass it in time, there would be a partial government shutdown.
That means multiple key departments would be at a standstill, including Labor, Health and Human Services, Defense, Homeland Security, and Education.
Essential federal workers still scheduled to work this weekend would have to work without pay.
“I think this is a terrible way to run a government," South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds (R) said. "This is a terrible thing to do to the country. This was supposed to be done last October. And so here we are.”
Congress needs a two-thirds majority to pass the bill, so it will take both Democrats and Republicans to push it to the finish line.
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