Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D.Y.) indicated Sunday that the government funding bill will be introduced to the full Senate on Tuesday, just days before Friday's looming shutdown deadline.
“Today, I call on Congress to act quickly and avoid a government shutdown. I am announcing that this Tuesday I will introduce legislation in the Senate to keep the government functioning,” Schumer said. said at a press conference on Sunday. “And we hope to see strong bipartisan support for that bill.”
Schumer slammed those on the far right who say they want to “force” a shutdown.
“Shutdown is the wrong thing to do,” Schumer said. “The vast majority of Democrats and Republicans don't want a shutdown, but there are groups, especially hard rightists in the House and parts of the Senate, who are trying to force a shutdown. They're trying to bully them. That can't happen. do not have.”
Congressional leaders struck a deal over the weekend to avert a government shutdown, setting new funding deadlines of March 1 and March 7, sources told The Hill. They agreed on a two-stage interim bill. The deal comes less than a week before the first funding deadline on January 19th. The deadline for the second round of funding is February 2nd.
If the proposal is approved by both chambers by Friday night, both chambers will have more time to approve the 12 spending bills. The major spending figures for these bills were announced over the weekend, but more time is needed to review the details of each funding bill.
Schumer said Sunday he was calling on members of both parties to “stand up to the far-right bullies” to avert a government shutdown and “avoid pain.”
“It takes strong bipartisan support in the House and Senate to stop the shutdown in order to overcome the band of MAGA extremists who somehow think darkly that the shutdown is good for America and the American people. It's necessary,” he said.
Conservative House Republicans have typically opposed stopgap legislation and Republican leaders striking deals with Democrats. But the two-step approach was adopted last November and supported by House Republicans who saw it as a way to avoid December's government-wide omnibus funding bill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) pledged in November not to bring another stopgap bill to the floor, but acknowledged last week that he would “not rule anything out” as the deadline approached.
Johnson floated the idea of a long-term continuing resolution to a group of moderate Republicans last week, but almost all of them said no to the idea, one attendee previously told The Hill.
Schumer on Sunday listed a series of problems that could be caused by a government shutdown, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) agreed that a government shutdown should be avoided. He added that there is.
A spokesperson for Mr. Schumer said the text of the continuing resolution will be posted online Sunday night.
The Hill's Clara Duhon contributed reporting.
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