Agreement likely to preclude partial government stoppage
Congressional negotiators are expected to secure a deal Monday on a package of three spending bills for the upcoming fiscal year, setting in motion GOP leaders’ plans to avoid a partial government shutdown at month’s end.
The efforts to keep the government funded come amid uncertainty over whether President Trump is willing to defer a fight with Democrats over border-wall funding until after the midterm elections.
Lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee said they expected the House to vote this week on the trio of bills, known as a “minibus,” that would include funding for the departments of Energy and Veterans Affairs and the legislative branch of government.
The Senate may also vote on the bill this week, though that would require an agreement among lawmakers to speed up the chamber’s time-consuming procedures.
Much of the government has yet to be funded, and Congress has dwindling days and an unpredictable president to contend with before current funding expires at 12:01 a.m. Oct 1. Mr. Trump has raised the prospect of shutting the government if he can’t secure more funding for the wall along the border with Mexico, while GOP leaders have worked to persuade him to hold off until after November’s midterm elections.
“Show me the last time there’s been a government shutdown that Republicans haven’t been blamed for. I have never seen it work,” said Rep. Mike Simpson (R., Idaho), an appropriations-committee member. “I have never seen it give you an advantage.”
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