11/18/2021

Democrats Leaning Toward Stopgap Funding Bill

One senator said he’s been calling for negotiations for months

With government funding due to expire Dec. 3, House Democrats are leaning toward passing another short-term spending patch that would push a shutdown threat deeper into December.

Congressional appropriators have been trying to reach consensus over the dozen annual bills that dictate federal spending but are nowhere near a deal, meaning another stopgap spending bill is likely. The two parties are at odds over topline numbers for the military and non-defense programs, as well as a host of other stipulations in the annual spending bills.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said he’s been calling for negotiations with his Republican colleagues for months.

“In order to finish our work, we need to have an agreed upon topline that has been worked out on a bipartisan and bicameral basis,” Leahy said. “We cannot finalize bills unless we know how much we are able to spend... It takes both Republicans and Democrats to strike a deal.”

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), ranking member of Senate Appropriations, said the Democrats’ spending bills contain a host of “misplaced priorities,” and would provide an increase in non-defense spending of nearly 14 percent while shortchanging investments in national defense. Shelby told POLITICO this week it “would take a miracle” to come to agreement on spending bills between now and Dec. 3.

“When they get serious, I’m sure we’ll get serious,” Shelby said. “We’re not going to blink on this.”

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