House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she will be meeting with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Sen. Charles E. Schumer on Tuesday to discuss government funding.
“We’re not going to have a shutdown,” the California Democrat said at Politico’s Women Rule Summit.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters Tuesday spending will be the first passage priority if the bills are ready to go, so the Senate can begin passing legislation on their end. The spending deadline set by a continuing resolution from last month expires on December 20th.
That same week, House Democrats are set to streamline two historic votes as the looming holiday deadline ramps up pressure for must-pass legislation.
Mr. Hoyer laid out the packed schedule for the next two weeks with reporters Tuesday morning.
This week, lawmakers in the House are set to vote on the National Defense Authorization Act, which will fund the military and shore up the U.S. commitment to NATO, and the Democrats’ marquee drug pricing bill to make American prices more comparable to other countries.
Which leaves the House five days to address everything else on the docket.
Mr. Hoyer hopes to schedule votes for the USMCA trade deal and articles of impeachment — both announced Tuesday morning — as well as the appropriation bills which will likely take the form of minibus packages.
House lawmakers will fly into D.C. on Monday to begin debating the bills on their plate but won’t begin voting until Tuesday. That gives only about a day each for debate on the articles of impeachment and USMCA.
“It will be the culmination of a long, long discussion, debate, hearings — intense work over the last two months,” the Maryland Democrat said about the tight debate time.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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