McConnell raises pressure as government funding talks churn on

Mitch McConnell is ramping up the pressure to wrap up a bipartisan government funding deal by Dec. 22, saying if it doesn’t pass by then, Republicans will back a short-term funding patch into early next year.

“We intend not to be here between Christmas and New Years,” the Senate minority leader told reporters on Tuesday.

He said top appropriators are “very close” to cementing a deal on a government funding framework, which would allow lawmakers to flesh out the details of a comprehensive government funding deal. After weeks of impasse, lead negotiators in the House and Senate say they’re closing in on a government funding outline, possibly finalizing an agreement as soon as Tuesday.

At the same time, House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) released the text of a week-long stopgap spending patch that would extend current spending levels through Dec. 23. That would ward off a shutdown deadline at midnight on Friday and buy some extra time to put the finishing touches on a sprawling package that would boost spending.

The House could pass that temporary funding measure as soon as Wednesday. But even that short fix comes with its own risks in the Senate, where any one senator can hold up a bill to request amendment votes or other concessions — pushing the government closer to the shutdown deadline.

Senate conservatives on Tuesday afternoon were planning to try to extend government funding into February through what's referred to as an unanimous consent request, a move set to fail since both Senate leaders want a government funding deal.

Retiring Sen. Richard Shelby, the GOP’s lead negotiator, said a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on a government funding framework could “maybe” come on Tuesday.

“That would be the goal,” the Alabama Republican said, although he said Democrats and Republicans are still billions of dollars apart.

“We’re working to reduce that tremendously,” he said.

The year-end spending package, which could total $1.7 trillion, will also include a revamp of an obscure law that Donald Trump tried to exploit to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday. Schumer also said anticipated additional Ukraine aid would make it into the deal, though he did not specify an amount.

Certain tax provisions, including an extension of the enhanced Child Tax Credit, look a lot less certain for the final bill, according to senators.

“There’s a lot of work to do, but we’re optimistic that if we preserve the good faith we’ve seen so far, we’ll get there,” Schumer said on the floor Tuesday morning.

Senators have been working on a bipartisan deal to adjust the Electoral Count Act since Trump tested its limits on Jan. 6. Legislation passed the Senate Rules Committee in September with broad support, including from McConnell. Democrats and Republicans have also largely agreed for months that Ukraine will need more assistance before the end of the year.

Lawmakers have largely agreed to set the defense budget at about $858 billion for this fiscal year, a 10 percent increase over current funding levels. The main holdup has been on domestic funding levels, with Republicans insisting that the majority party had satisfied its priorities through party-line spending bills.

Democrats, meanwhile, have argued that billions in additional social spending was necessary to combat the effects of inflation.

Retiring Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, a senior Republican appropriator, said, “I actually thought by this time today I’d be saying, ‘Yes, we have a deal and we’re working on putting the final touches on it.’ I can’t say that yet, but I’m still optimistic.”

With a bipartisan agreement close at hand and legislative text largely written, lawmakers could be on track to clear the government funding package just before the holidays. But timing is extremely tight and a number of pitfalls could complicate passage in both chambers, including a host of unrelated policy provisions that members will push to include before the start of the next Congress in January.

DeLauro, who has been negotiating at a breakneck pace with her Senate counterparts, stressed that any appropriations deal will need bipartisan support. DeLauro has the difficult job of ensuring the spending package can get through the House, as Democrats have only two votes to spare if every Republican in the chamber opposes the bill.

“You’ve got to come to a meeting of the minds, which is what we are trying to do,” she said on Tuesday morning.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said he’s approaching a government funding deal with a healthy dose of skepticism.

“The signals are positive but I am skeptical,” he said. “I have spent too many Christmases and New Year’s Eves sitting here … I think bitter experiences perhaps made me pessimistic.”

Democrats have offered a year-long stopgap spending bill as an alternative to a deal, which would hobble federal agencies with stagnant budgets for the better part of 2023. McConnell and other Republicans have threatened a stopgap into early next year, when they regain a majority in the House.

Both scenarios would have a hard time getting through the House and Senate, with Republicans loath to flat-fund the military for an extended period of time and Democrats unwilling to cede their leverage with a slim majority in both chambers.

“I hope we in the next few days come to an agreement on” a spending bill, said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. “Passage of a one-year [stopgap fix] is extraordinarily detrimental and costly to every agency and department of government and to the American people.”

“I’m optimistic that the House and Senate will do the right thing,” the Maryland Democrat said.

Burgess Everett and Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.