House Speaker Paul Ryan announced on Thursday a plan to pass a two-week funding plan as a first step to avoid a government shutdown on December 8. This move would provide more time to reach a bipartisan agreement on a longer-term funding plan.
According to Representative Tom Cole, the proposed plan has not yet been finalized and is to be discussed on Friday at a Republican meeting. He added that the stopgap bill is unlikely to include any unrelated provisions such as hurricane-recovery aid for affected areas. Ryan confirmed the claim, noting that a disaster aid request would require more time to be ready. Senator John Cornyn pointed out that additional disaster aid funds are to be provided by Congress in December.
“While we’re fiddling people are out of their homes. We’ve been put off time and time and time again. Just wait, wait, wait. Now they’re asking us to wait again. That’s unacceptable,” Cornyn said.
Senator Susan Collins is pushing for a plan to stabilize Obamacare insurance markets to be included in the stopgap bill, but Representative Mark Walker maintained that would “probably would run into some issues” in the House.
Among other issues, lawmakers are in a rush to pass the spending bill before the year ends. Democrats, whose votes Republicans need to advance a spending bill, have leverage, but their demands clash with those of Republicans and as a result it’s not clear whether Congress can pass a spending package by Christmas.
This could lead to the necessity to pass a second stopgap bill this month, a Republican member familiar with the matter said. The GOP member added that Republican leaders are discussing a short-term spending bill because they are getting complaints from other members who are demanding a higher-level funding for the military.
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