House passes bill to keep the government funded through early March
The House of Representatives passed a bill to keep the government open and funded through March 11, the final vote was 272–162.
Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey was the only Democrat to oppose the bill, known as a continuing resolution.
If this bill passes the Senate then signed by President Biden it would be the fourth continuing resolution to be passed while an omnibus bill is being debated for the year’s budget. The current continuing resolution is set to expire on February 18th.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday that he intends to have the Senate take up the bill “quickly and in time for the February 18 deadline.” He went on to say that negotiations for the full year of appropriations funding would continue, and the short-term funding measure would enable the nation to “avoid a costly shutdown.” And he expressed confidence that lawmakers would be able to reach an agreement on a full appropriations bill by March 11, rather than passing more continuing resolutions this year.
The president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Maya MacGuineas, called Congress’ budget process “clearly broken,” pointing out that President Biden’s budget is overdue, and that Congress “hasn’t followed the budget and appropriations process as it’s scheduled by law in decades.”
Maya MacGuineas did express concern about the 1.5 trillion dollar budget the President proposed in 2021. “With inflation at a 40-year high, we shouldn’t be increasing discretionary spending by $125 billion.”
