• The U.S. government will be partially shut down on January 19th if Congress fails to pass the necessary funding legislation.
• To avoid a shutdown, Congress would need to pass a continuing resolution, an omnibus spending package, or one of four spending bills, which would affect multiple government departments.
• Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin wrote in December about the national security implications of continuing the resolution: “A year-long CR will leave us on the back burner.”

Several U.S. government departments are scheduled to close within a week unless Congress passes funding.

Under the terms of the Continuing Resolution passed on November 15th, funding for the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development will begin at 11:59 p.m. ET on January 19th. The deadline has expired and operations will be suspended. Unless funded by Congress. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday announced an agreement to fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year 2024, a deal that was widely criticized by conservative House Republicans. and has threatened to dismiss him if the deal goes ahead. There is growing uncertainty about what course Congress will take. (Related article: Mike Johnson says he won't walk away from spending deal despite Freedom Caucus opposition)

Johnson and Schumer's agreement states that the September 30 It calls for spending of $1.59 trillion by the end of the year. Both deals have long been opposed by more than 60 House Republicans, some of whom are now pushing for further spending cuts and border security measures to be included in the deal, otherwise the government should be closed, they say, but these have been vehemently opposed. Biden and Schumer disagree.

🚨 NEW: Despite opposition from the right, House Speaker Mike Johnson says he will stick with funding deal with Democrats:

“Topline agreements remain in place, we are finalizing next steps, and we are working toward a robust spending process.”pic.twitter.com/jcrfnr484P

— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) January 12, 2024

To avoid such a shutdown, the House and Senate could enact a continuing resolution (CR) that would authorize additional spending for a limited period of time until they resolve their differences, which some senators is demanding. The measure has already been implemented twice, on 30 September and 15 November, and if adopted it would break Mr Johnson's promise not to consider further CR for the remainder of the financial year.

Many conservative Republicans be against The current spending agreement is a vote down from the previous CR, which maintained spending at the level set by the Democratic-led 117th Congress under the leadership of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi. On September 30th and he November 15th CR received “no” votes from: 90 and 93 Each is a House Republican, and some Republicans first floated a similar measure as grounds for removing Mr. McCarthy from office, which they achieved with unanimous support from Democrats on October 3. (Related article: 'I'm a hardline conservative': Mike Johnson responds to threat to force Chip Roy to resign)

If this third CR were to be extended beyond April 30, it would require a mandatory “seizure” of funds under the terms of the FRA, which would result in the return of allocated funds to the Treasury. Become. About 5% of non-defense discretionary spending will be garnished, while defense spending will be cut by 1%.

Congress could pass a CR covering the remainder of the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, rather than a third interim bill. The idea is supported by some fiscally conservative House Republicans, including Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

But such a measure would also require a seizure of 9% of non-defense discretionary spending, or the equivalent of $73 billion. These cuts, which affect social spending programs, are unlikely to be accepted by Democrats in both chambers of Congress.

Marjorie Taylor Greene said she told Speaker Mike Johnson that she would be motioning for him to “resign as chairman” if he did not meet her demands. pic.twitter.com/av8CNzAocE

— Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) January 12, 2024

Defense planning based on year-round CR is not sequestered, but the idea has been around for some time. was severely criticized Biden administration Pentagon officials have argued that maintaining last year's spending levels would undermine national security. “A one-year CR will delay the achievement of the pacing challenges highlighted in the National Defense Strategy, namely the People's Republic of China.” I have written Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin added in a letter to members of Congress on December 12, 2023.[o]Executing our strategy will depend on our ability to innovate and modernize to meet this challenge, and that cannot happen under CR. ”

Sen. Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Patti Murray Washington's susan collins Maine lawmakers oppose a year-round CR, indicating that the House-backed bill is unlikely to advance in the Democratic-led Senate.

If Congress does not consider a CR of any length, it will need to pass an omnibus spending package or, as House Republicans intend, pass four separate spending bills.Past omnibus bills were all the rage. opposed Nearly every member of the House Republican conference has long believed that the length, often thousands of pages, precludes accountability for government spending. (Related: House of Commons Conservative tanky rule vote hits Speaker Mike Johnson)

By contrast, passing all four spending bills is likely impossible with the House's current schedule. Congress is scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday, Jan. 16, after the Martin Luther King Jr. Day federal holiday on Monday, with both chambers expected to pass all bills before sending them to Mr. Biden for his signature. There will be a grace period of 4 days.

“Procedurally, there is nothing to prevent it.” [Congress] It is not possible to adopt all 12 bills. But given the differences of opinion…it would require a shocking turn of events to pull it off,” said Dr. Joshua Huder, senior fellow at Georgetown University's Institute of Governmental Affairs, for the Daily Caller News Foundation. told.

The House of Representatives is currently passed it Two of the required appropriations bills passed, the Senate passed three, and only one passed both chambers (the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2023). Perhaps a conference process will be needed to negotiate a compromise.

Mark Harkins, another senior fellow at the Institute of Governmental Studies, told the DCNF before Congress reconvened for the new year on January 8, “We have time to do the work necessary to pass the bill.'' There is no such thing at all,” he said. 9. “This process will take weeks, not days…and it will take days, not weeks, for them to come back.”

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