Congress Extends Stopgap Funding by Two Weeks

A partial government shutdown has been averted for another two weeks, until December 21, after Congress passed a second stopgap funding bill on December 6, 2018, to fund some parts of the federal government. The bill funds at fiscal year (FY) 2018 levels federal agencies for which fiscal year (FY) 2019 appropriations have not yet been signed into law, including the Department of Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Science Foundation. Congress had approved several FY 2019 funding bills before going into recess prior to the midterm elections and had passed a continuing resolution to fund the remaining agencies at FY 2018 levels until December 7. Lawmakers planned to complete work on FY 2019 appropriations during the lame-duck session but negotiations over funding President Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall and the death of former President George H.W. Bush kept lawmakers from reaching a deal on the spending bills. The second stopgap measure has delayed the chance of a partial government shutdown to later in the month. The President has been pushing for $5 billion in funding for the border wall but Democratic lawmakers have so far agreed to allocate only $1.6 billion. “Somebody will have to blink,” said Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL). House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has suggested passing six of the seven remaining spending bills that have bipartisan support, while extending current level funding for Home...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news