Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday reiterated that he’s aiming to move quickly to achieve passage of a two-step measure that would prevent a partial government shutdown from hitting this weekend.
“I will work with Leader McConnell to see if we can come to an agreement to accelerate this bill’s passage. If both sides cooperate, there’s no reason we can’t finish this bill even as soon as today, but we’re going to keep working to see what’s possible,” said Schumer, a New York Democrat, in a speech on the Senate floor, referring to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican.
The Republican-run House of Representatives approved the short-term measure in a 336-95 vote on Tuesday. A divided Washington is racing to get the continuing resolution, or CR, to President Joe Biden’s desk so he can sign it into law because the government is only funded through Friday.
“The House’s CR is far from perfect,” Schumer said. “But we’re moving forward, because we believe it accomplishes two things that I and other Democrats have been insistent on for weeks. It will avoid a government shutdown, and it will do so without any of the cruel cuts or poison pills that the hard right pushed forward.”
Striking a similar note, the White House has said that Biden would “sign this continuing resolution that maintains current funding levels and has no harmful policy riders” once it passes the Senate.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who became his chamber’s leader just three weeks ago, was forced to rely on Democratic votes to pass his measure due to opposition from the House Freedom Caucus, a group of hardline Republicans, and other colleagues.
His continuing resolution — which was opposed Tuesday by 93 House Republicans and two Democrats — sets Washington up for more funding fights in early 2024, as it extends government funding for some agencies and programs until Jan. 19, and for others until Feb. 2. Johnson has pitched his approach as necessary to place House Republicans in a strong negotiating position, saying it will prevent them from getting jammed by the Democratic-run Senate on a huge spending bill introduced just ahead of the holidays.
See: Ahead of House vote to avoid government shutdown, Speaker Johnson says, ‘You have to fight fights that you can win’
U.S. stocks
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were gaining Wednesday, building on the prior session’s big rally, which was sparked by an encouraging reading on inflation.
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