Congress prepares to punt government funding deadline into next year

Congress is preparing to further delay the passage of annual appropriations bills and instead extend current funding levels into next year.

The pending extension would be the second for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Congress already voted in September to extend the previous fiscal year’s funding levels through Dec. 20.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said Monday that lawmakers are negotiating on a funding extension, called a continuing resolution or CR, that can pass both the House and Senate with bipartisan support.

“We need to keep divisive and unnecessary provisions out of any government funding extension, or else it will get harder to pass a CR in time,” he said. “For now, I am pleased negotiations are on the right track, and I thank the appropriators in both chambers for their good work.”

The plan to extend the funding deadline into next year is a blow to appropriators who wanted to pass new spending bills before the end of the year. But with party leaders still divided over a topline figure for how much money to spend, negotiations on the appropriations bills were at a standstill, making the funding extension necessary.

Mr. Schumer did not specify how long a funding extension should last.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, previously acknowledged a funding extension into early next year would likely be necessary.

“That would be, ultimately, a good move because the country would benefit from it because then you’d have Republican control, and we’d have a little more say in what those spending bills are,” he said in a Fox News interview last month.

Congress must pass new spending bills by April to avoid triggering automatic cuts put in place under the 2023 debt limit law.

Mr. Schumer also expressed hope that Congress would pass a disaster aid package before the end of the year. Before Thanksgiving, President Biden sent Congress a request for nearly $100 billion in disaster aid, but lawmakers are still negotiating the details.

“I remain hopeful we can get a disaster package done soon,” Mr. Schumer said. “National disasters affect red states and blue states and purple states and everything in between. We have a long tradition in this chamber of coming together when it comes to disaster aid, with very few exceptions.”

Another year-end priority Mr. Schumer mentioned is the annual defense authorization bill. He said a bipartisan version negotiated between the House and Senate is “close” to being ready to advance.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blamed Mr. Schumer and Democrats for delaying action on the defense bill and government funding.

“Finishing urgent business in December won’t be cause for celebration,” the Kentucky Republican said. “It’ll just be the end of an utterly avoidable delay.”