Congress has one week left until a December 20 shutdown deadline and lawmakers are still hammering out the final details of a plan to extend funding into March. A slew of other items, including additional disaster-relief funding and an extension of the farm bill, could also get rolled into the year-end legislative package.
Democrats are warning against partisan provisions. “The only way we prevent a shutdown is through bipartisan cooperation, without any last-minute poison pills that only create controversy,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a social media post Thursday. “Adding poison pills at the 11th hour would only make the risk of a Christmas shutdown greater. That would hurt Americans across this country.”
In the aftermath of devastating hurricanes Helen and Milton, the Biden administration has asked for about $100 billion in disaster funding, but far-right Republicans have expressed concerns about the cost and have called for offsets to such additional spending.
“The House should consider only what is absolutely necessary right now to provide critical relief to hurricane victims and farmers, and pay for it with offsets from wasteful spending elsewhere in the government, then wait for President Trump to take office to better manage disaster relief,” the conservative House Freedom Caucus said in a statement last week.
Congressional Democrats have reportedly also been trying to ensure that $20 billion in IRS funding provided under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act is kept in place. And Punchbowl News reports that negotiators are nearing a deal on a health package “that could include a major overhaul for pharmacy benefit managers.”
The final bill text is expected to be revealed over the weekend. That would leave enough time to get the legislation through both chambers of Congress and to President Joe Biden’s desk before the Friday night deadline, allowing lawmakers to head home for the holidays.
