Congress nearing deal on a stopgap, spending bills ahead of Friday shutdown deadline

Congress is nearing a deal on another short-term funding patch to beat Friday’s shutdown deadline and give Congress more time to pass spending bills.

The four bills due by Friday, which include funding for the VA, agriculture, transportation and energy and water, still need more work than can be finished by Friday, according to a source familiar with negotiations among House appropriators.

Now another stopgap bill that would extend government funding until March 22 could be released as early as Wednesday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson insists that another stopgap must be part of a plan to pass individual spending bills, which is a top demand of his archconservatives in the GOP conference.

“Any CR would be part of a larger agreement to finish a number of appropriations bills, ensuring adequate time for drafting text and for members to review prior to casting votes,” said Athina Lawson, a spokesperson for Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican.

The new short-term funding patch would be the fourth stopgap bill passed this budget year, and it would be the third under Mr. Johnson’s tenure as speaker.

Mr. Johnson, along with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, exited a meeting at the White House on Tuesday optimistic that Congress would again avoid yet another fiscal cliff by the end of the week.

“Negotiators in both chambers continue working to ensure the government will not shut down at the end of the week,” Mr. Schumer said on Wednesday. “We continue to make very good progress on an agreement, and we are very close to getting it done.”