Source: Wall Street News
According to the media, members of the two parties in the Senate are close to reaching an agreement to extend government spending for 45 days; moderate Republican members of the House of Representatives are preparing to launch a rare procedure with members of the Democratic Party to force a vote on the bill to extend financing until January 11 next year.
There are only four days left until the deadline for the US government shutdown on September 30. Members of the US Congress are making different efforts to pass the relevant spending bill to decide the fate of the shutdown.
On Tuesday, September 26, EST, some media quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Republican and Democratic negotiators in the US Senate are close to reaching a short-term agreement to maintain government spending, which can extend the funding period to guarantee the operation of the government by 45 days, so that the government can maintain operations even after the start of the new fiscal year on October 1.
Although 45 days is shorter than the period initially sought by the Democrats to extend to December, it may help get the bill passed by the House of Representatives and temporarily avoid a federal government shutdown.
Meanwhile, moderate Republican members of the House of Representatives are preparing to join the Democratic House of Representatives to launch the so-called “cancellation petition” process, which has only been successfully submitted twice in this century, to force a vote on a temporary financing bill extending government spending until January 11 next year. Two-thirds of the Republican House of Representatives have approved the bill proposed by the two parties.
However, the media pointed out that after the cancellation petition takes effect, the National Assembly can force a vote within nine “legislative days”. It may not be able to pass the bill in time before the government shuts down, and it may still be impossible to avoid the shutdown.
Moreover, House Speaker and Republican leader McCarthy will face difficult choices. Faced with demands from hardliners within the Republican Party, he will have to consider whether to allow a vote on the new Senate bill.
Some media believe that the actions of the Senate and the House of Representatives are quite different. The Senate plan, which is controlled by the Democrats, is to vote on a bridge-crossing financing bill supported by both parties, so that the government can continue to operate, and to give negotiators from both parties more time to reach a spending plan for the whole year.
However, McCarthy's goal is to calm the opposition from hardliners within the Republican Party. To this end, the first thing he needs to do is push for the introduction of four annual spending bills. These bills can meet the priorities of the conservatives within the party, but even if they pass these bills, they cannot fund the entire government to avoid a shutdown. Moreover, these bills may not have been passed. Hardliners blocked the passage of the bill last week, and some say they will oppose it in the future.
If McCarthy can overcome these difficulties, most of this week will probably be spent on debates, leaving little time to finalize the interim financing bill before this Sunday.
Editor/Somer