09/17/2020

House Could Pass Stopgap Spending Bill Next Week

Their vote would give the Senate time to pass the legislation

Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives intends to vote on a stopgap continuing resolution to fund the government, according to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD). A House vote next week would give the Senate time to pass the legislation before current funding expires on Oct. 1.

“I think it’ll come to the floor earlier in the week rather than later in the week, and I think clearly it has enough time to pass the Senate,” Hoyer said.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have agreed to keep the continuing resolution separate from ongoing negotiations on COVID-19 relief. There is still some uncertainty about the length of funding, with Republicans favoring a Dec. 18 stopgap deal and some Democrats hoping to push for a longer-term CR into February when there could be a change in the administration.

Pelosi has not publicly committed to a timeline on the CR, and there is some dispute about whether to use the CR to postpone 2020 census deadlines and address expiring health care programs like the Children’s Health Insurance Program. If the CR extends only into December, Congress will be forced to address government funding again after the November elections in the lame-duck session.

This article was provided to OSAE by the Power of A and ASAE's Inroads.