Like everyone else who draws nears to a vacation, members of Congress hope to close up shop early and head out for their holiday break on Thursday. Only one problem. The government runs out of money on Friday.
With little incentive to negotiate a trillion-dollar spending package with President (Barack) Obama, Republicans plan to approve a stopgap measure and call a lid on legislative work for 2016.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said “it is our hope” for the House to adjourn for the holidays by Thursday, but cautioned lawmakers could be forced to stay longer.
Yeah, you wouldn’t want to be a Grinch and leave federal employees without a salary during the holidays.
The stop gap measure is called a continuing resolution and if approved could provide the government with enough money to operate for a several months. This would allow president- elect Donald Trump time to confirm his cabinet.
Democrats and the Obama administration have panned the decision to punt on appropriations work with a CR, but haven’t indicated they’ll vote against its passage.
"That's not governing — it's irresponsible, it's wasteful and unfair to the American people," Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters.
Despite criticism from Democrats and a small number of Republicans, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) predicted it will get enough votes to pass, though he warned the consequences of a CR are "devastating."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also hasn’t publicly signed on to the details of the yet-to-be released House plan, but signaled the Senate will take up a short-term spending bill.
The only other business—other than putting money in the federal budget—is an item that has been on the agenda for a year—the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), and must be acted on.
The measure is expected to include long-awaited assistance for the residents of Flint, Mich. who have been suffering from a contaminated water crisis. Lawmakers agreed in September to include it in the WRDA bill instead of a stopgap spending measure that expires on Friday.