WASHINGTON — Lawmakers could be bracing for another dragged-out government shutdown fight as both the House and Senate slow-walk funding talks just two months before the deadline.
Each year, Congress must pass 12 appropriations bills approving the expenditures for federal agencies that make up the government budget. These bills must be passed and signed by President Donald Trump before midnight on Oct. 1, the first day of the fiscal year, otherwise funding will lapse for the individual agencies.
It’s a battle lawmakers wage every year as the party in control often attempts to include unrelated spending measures to the must-pass legislation to notch policy wins. But the appropriations process requires bipartisanship — Senate Republicans will need help from at least seven of their Democratic colleagues to pass the upper chamber — which frequently tangles the process.
But so far, lawmakers are still a long way out from even the beginning of the battle.
Of the 12 appropriations bills, the House has only passed one. The Senate has yet to pass any.
Five of the House committees have advanced their portions of the budget, with the chamber set to begin voting on some of the least controversial components next week. The Senate committees have only advanced two.
And with August recess slowly approaching, appropriators only have 6½ weeks in Washington to push the rest through.
There is, however, a backup plan. Lawmakers could pass what is known as a continuing resolution that extends government funding at the same levels until a later deadline. In fact, that’s normally the route lawmakers must take as negotiations drag past the start of the fiscal year.
The last time Congress passed all 12 of its appropriations bills by the Oct. 1 deadline was 1996.
Even then, that process requires both Republicans and Democrats to cooperate in order to avoid a shutdown. And Democratic leaders are making clear they won’t lend a hand if Republicans continue to pass what the minority party considers partisan bills.
“Very soon, Senate Republicans are expected to bring to the floor, at Donald Trump’s behest, a so-called rescissions package that will gut critical investments in public broadcasting and weaken America’s standing abroad, on a simple majority vote — not the 60 votes required traditionally as appropriation bills move forward,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a floor speech this week. “Will Senate Republicans bow down to Donald Trump yet again, or will they actually show backbone and stand up for their constituents?”
The Senate is set to vote on Trump’s rescissions package next week requesting roughly $9.4 billion in cuts targeting foreign aid as well as federal funding for organizations the White House has accused of being anti-conservative. The package is being brought to the floor under a special procedure that allows it to skirt the filibuster, blocking Democrats from shutting it down.
If that bill passes, Schumer warns, Democrats could retaliate when it comes time to avert a shutdown.
“If Republicans cave to Donald Trump and gut these investments agreed to by both parties, that would be an affront — a huge affront — to the bipartisan appropriations process,” Schumer said.
“It is absurd to expect Democrats to play along with funding the government if Republicans are just going to renege on a bipartisan agreement by concocting rescissions packages behind closed doors that can pass with only their votes, not the customary 60 votes required in the appropriation process,” he added. “Sixty-vote processes almost always ensures bipartisanship.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters he was disappointed to see Schumer “implicitly threaten” to shut down the government, but expressed confidence Congress can fund the government before the deadline.
“But I’m hopeful that that is not the position of the Democrat Party, the Democrat conference here in the Senate, and that we can work together in the coming weeks to pass bipartisan appropriations bills,” Thune said on Wednesday.
This isn’t the first time Schumer has threatened to shut down the government over a lack of negotiating with Republicans. The Democratic leader suggested doing so in March when Congress passed its government funding bill.
Schumer ultimately voted to end the filibuster on the bill, allowing it to later pass in a 54-46 vote. Democratic voters were furious with the top Senate Democrat, accusing him of forfeiting the minority party’s only piece of leverage.
It’s unclear whether Schumer will do that again.