Yellen warns of shutdown consequences as Congress races to pass spending bill 

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is urging Congress to quickly pass legislation to keep the government funded past the looming Friday shutdown deadline.

“Failure to provide funding to the government by this Friday's deadline will hurt American families and small businesses across the country,” she said in remarks prepared for Wednesday's U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting. I warned you.

“We are encouraged by the bipartisan agreement we have reached and urge members of Congress to meet the deadline to prevent unnecessary shutdowns and protect important domestic and national priorities that have been advanced over the past three years. ” she added.

The Senate is currently considering a stopgap measure, also known as a continuing resolution (CR), that will block four of the 12 annual funding bills while negotiators try to quickly decide on new spending levels for fiscal year 2024. The plan is to extend funding at current levels until March 1st. This includes funding for agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture. energy; transportation; housing and urban development.

Lawmakers plan to extend funding for the remaining eight bills through March 8 under the agreement. Agencies funded by these bills include the Department of Defense. Homeland Security; Labor; Health and Human Services; and Education.

This two-step approach is similar to the strategy Congress took under the previous stopgap bill passed in November. Republicans supported this approach at the time, even as they opposed passing a new massive bill combining all 12 funding bills, but some questioned its effectiveness.

“That doesn't mean it's easier this time,” spending cardinal Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told The Hill last week. “I don't see why it's going to be easier next time. So I think we need to set a date and give the expropriators enough time to deal with them and realize that it has to be bipartisan.” There is no negotiable agreement that can be passed over and over and people can vote the way they want.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Tuesday that he expects to be able to “finish work on CR by Thursday at the latest.”

“The key to getting our work done this week is bipartisan cooperation in both chambers. We cannot pass these bills without the support of Republicans and Democrats in both chambers.”