In a surprising turn of events, the House has on a bipartisan vote of 335-91 passed a continuing resolution (CR) that will keep the government funded until mid-November. The CR extends current funding levels through November 17; includes disaster funding; excludes Ukraine funding; and extends necessary authorizations for the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Flood Insurance Program, and health extenders. Following the vote, the House adjourned until Monday.
The Senate had been scheduled to vote earlier this afternoon to end debate on Leader Schumer’s alternative CR, which included $6 billion in Ukraine funding. The Senate vote, which was scheduled for 1pm today, has been delayed as the Senate, like everyone else, waited on the House to see if it could send anything over.
There have been no announcements yet, but it is anticipated that once the bill comes over from the House, the Senate will vitiate the aforementioned cloture vote and instead pick up and pass the House bill, thus averting the shutdown that was scheduled to begin tomorrow. Doing so will require unanimous consent to expedite, and that UC has not yet been reached. We will keep you updated.
Saturday evening upDate: Following a multi hour delay, the Senate has reached consent to vote on the House-passed CR. That vote in ongoing, and the government shutdown will be averted. The CR runs for 48 days through Friday, November 17, during which time all of the same issues debated this time around will continue to dominate spending discussions.
Congressional scheduling note: though the House was initially planning to recess, both the House and Senate are expected to be in session over the next two weeks. The House will now be in session on Monday, October 2, until Thursday, October 5, as well as on Tuesday, October 10, until Friday, October 13. First votes on October 2 and October 10 are expected at 6:30pm. This is a change from Leader Scalise’s previously announced schedule. The House is expected to return to consideration of its FY24 appropriations bills with Rules Committee amendment deadlines recently announced for the Energy and Water, Interior, Transportation, and Legislative Branch funding bills. More details on the upcoming Senate schedule as we have them.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.