Congress to vote on short-term funding bill to avert government shutdown
WASHINGTON — With the threat of a government shutdown at midnight Friday, congressional leaders introduced a bill late Wednesday that will keep the government open through May 5 to give lawmakers more time to reach a deal on a longer-term spending bill.
A vote on the stopgap legislation could come as early as Thursday.
House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., and Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., unveiled the bill late Wednesday after it became increasingly clear that Congress would not be able to pass a bill this week to fund the government through Sept. 30. Congressional leaders and the White House want to avoid a politically unpopular shutdown, which would have closed national parks and monuments, furloughed thousands of federal employees, and delayed Americans' tax refunds.
"This Continuing Resolution will continue to keep the government open and operating as normal for the next several days, in order to finalize legislation to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year," Frelinghuysen said in a statement. "I am optimistic that a final funding package will be completed soon. It is time that this essential work is completed so that critical programs and activities — including national defense — are properly and adequately funded for the year."
Federal programs would continue to be funded at existing levels under the stopgap measure. The resolution would also extend health care benefits for retired union coal miners through May 5. Those benefits were set to expire at midnight Friday.
"We’ve made substantial progress on an agreement to complete the 2017 appropriations process," Cochran said. "Let’s pass this new continuing resolution, and make good use of this extra time to enact overdue legislation to provide for national defense and meet our country’s needs."
Federal subsidies that help low-income Americans pay for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act became the latest sticking point Wednesday for negotiators trying to reach agreement on a spending bill.
Democrats want language in the bill to ensure that federal subsidies owed to health insurance companies under so-called Obamacare are paid so that insurance premiums don't increase for low-income families by 15% or more. President Trump had threatened to withhold the payments to force Democrats to bargain on a health care bill to replace the ACA, although the White House appeared to back away from that threat Wednesday afternoon.
On Tuesday, Trump backed off his demand for immediate funding for a Southwest border wall, opting instead to fight for money in the 2018 budget. Democrats had warned that the issue would result in a shutdown because they would not vote for the wall.
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Obamacare subsidies are sticking point in talks to avert government shutdown
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