Senate races to avert government shutdown

The Senate is sprinting to clear a one-week funding patch that would avert a government shutdown on Friday at midnight, but timing remains uncertain as any one senator could delay the legislation.

As of Thursday afternoon, Senate leaders still didn’t have an agreement to vote on the stopgap measure and annual defense policy legislation. The House on Wednesday night passed thestopgap, which extends federal cash until Dec. 23, as leading lawmakers scramble to wrap up a broader $1.7 trillion year-end spending package. The negotiators involved in that deal, however, are keeping the overall spending levels and other details under wraps so as not to endanger support in a rushed timeline.

With less than 48 hours until federal funding lapses, any one senator can hold up the one-week stopgap in exchange for concessions or amendment votes. Senate conservatives on Thursday were demanding a number of amendments, including tweaks that would extend federal funding into next spring when Republicans control the House. GOP senators also want an amendment vote that targets funding for a new infusion of IRS agents, passed in Democrats’ party-line climate, tax and health bill earlier this year.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has previously held up spending legislation in what he characterizes as a pursuit of fiscal responsibility, said, “People are asking for amendments to do it into the spring, amendments to remove the 87,000 new IRS agents and amendments to remove the earmarks.”

“I think there are thousands of earmarks on it,” Paul said of funding for lawmakers’ home state projects in the mammoth year-end spending package.

Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska is also asking for a vote on an issue related to lawsuits over water contamination at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina.

Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he’s working on an alternative to Sullivan’s request, exchanging proposals with the Alaska senator.

Earlier Thursday, Minority Whip John Thune was noncommittal about whether his conference would object to passing the bill quickly.

“At this point, I think we’ve got some issues with it, so we’ll see,” Thune said. “It’s just some requests for amendment votes, and then people are willing to let it go, but they want to get some amendment votes. So we’ll see how the day wears on.”

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned Thursday that any senator thinking about holding up the weeklong funding fix likely wouldn’t score the political points they’re seeking.

“We should have no drama, no gridlock and no delay on passing the weeklong” funding patch, he said. “Those who demand something happen and risk shutting down the government almost always lose.”

Conservatives have also complained about the secrecy of top appropriators, who struck a bipartisan government funding framework earlier this week without revealing any details. That framework allows appropriators to spend the next few days finalizing legislative text. While much of the bill is written, it’s still a massive lift for a Congress plagued by delays.

Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican appropriator in the upper chamber, said, “we’ve made a lot of progress” on the broader package.

“I think the rational thing to do would be to get a [stopgap funding patch] to the 23rd, and let’s do our work and fund the government,” Shelby said.

Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer warned that the House could be working right up until Christmas to pass the massive year-end spending package.

“We all understand Christmas is Sunday, and none of us want to be here, but all of us have a responsibility obviously as you complete the business of funding the government of the United States of America,” Hoyer said on the floor Thursday. “So we will be here.”

Lawmakers will also be trying to cram in any number of unrelated policy provisions before the start of the next Congress, such as reducing the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. The bill is already expected to include legislation to update the 1887 Electoral Count Act, which former President Donald Trump sought to exploit to remain in the White House after the 2020 election, as well as Ukraine aid.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reiterated Thursday that he’d support the funding package, provided that it’s wrapped up by Dec. 22. He’s warned that GOP senators would leave town by the 23rd.

“Welcome to Thursday afternoon in the Senate,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “It’s hard to know how this ends, you know how it is. Sometimes miraculously everything comes together because people want to go home.”

Anthony Adragna and David Lim contributed to this report.