Drew Thies
Congressional leaders are still working out differences on a
spending bill that needs to be passed by Friday. Plans to unveil the proposal
earlier this week were delayed by disagreements over a variety of controversial
issues.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) remained
optimistic, saying Tuesday he expects a bill to pass before Thursday.
That timing still only leaves the Senate one day to work out
disagreements before final passage. Because of Senate rules, this would allow
any one Senator to derail the process and shut down the government for at least
a limited amount of time.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) caused a shutdown last month in
protest over a budget deal. He made no assurances he wouldn’t pursue such a
tactic a second time.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) said that he
expects lawmakers to pass a short term spending patch and work on a larger
package over the weekend. "We're going to be here into the weekend,
perhaps. But I think there could be some measures taken to keep the lights on,”
he said.
Congressional leaders hoped to release the bill, which would
fund the government through September, on Monday night with a House vote on
Wednesday.
Disagreements over specific policies are elevated by the
fact that many lawmakers view this as the last major package that will move in
Congress this year. Members of Congress want their priorities signed into law
before campaigning ahead of the midterm elections slows legislative progress to
a standstill.
Major impediments to an agreement include funding for a
border wall, a New York infrastructure project, and provisions related to the
Russia investigation. A White House staffer said President Donald Trump will
support a bill that increases funding for the military and border security.
AHCA/NCAL will continue to monitor the bill as negotiations
come to a close and it moves through Congress.
No comments:
Post a Comment