Written by: Sasha Reva
House Democrats are planning a stopgap prevention bill to prevent a government shutdown at the end of September. Democrats are thinking about making the funding bill together with action to handle the debt ceiling, in addition to funding for hurricane and flood damages, Afghan resettlement efforts, and other priorities. Democrats are essentially forcing the Republican’s hand to vote with them to avert the impending debt cliff.
Republicans are not intimidated by the Democrats’ attempts to tie action on the debt ceiling to a must-pass government funding bill. GOP leaders have vowed no help in raising or suspending the cap on how much money the government can borrow while Democrats pursue a multi-trillion spending package without GOP support.
The Treasury Department has taken no measures to conserve funds since a limit was passed to reinstate the nation’s ability to borrow money on Aug. 1st. This week, the Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, warned that those measures would soon run out sometime next month. As a result, the government could default on its debt between mid-October and mid-November.
Majority leader Steny Hoyer privately spoke about the plan on Friday. He told leaders they are looking at Dec. 10th as an end date for the continuing resolution to keep the government open beyond Sept. 30th. However, a time patch has yet to be released. Additionally, Hoyer also said House leaders might have to add extra voting days in October to accommodate a busy schedule, including passage of President Joe Biden’s massive social spending plan.
According to the statement, “While the House has already completed the vast majority of our appropriations work, Congress must pass a continuing resolution to keep the government open and
serving our communities as we negotiate final funding bills that invest in working families.”
This is not the first time House Leaders are seeking to combine bills to deceive the GOP leaders and pass their agenda-setting ideologies. Democrats can spend money to oblivion, but saving money seems to be outside their realm of expertise.
Photo from: Alex Edelman/Getty Images
