Senators are close to finalizing a key funding package to end the government shutdown, which includes full-year funding measures for select federal agencies — a critical piece of bipartisan negotiations over the terms for ending the prolonged government shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune stated that the mini-package should be nearing completion and will serve as the vehicle for the stopgap spending bill to reopen the government. Thune, after a closed-door GOP lunch, noted that bipartisan negotiators want the Senate to stay in session through the weekend to finish a deal, though he emphasized the need to see progress before extending the session past its normal Thursday afternoon exit time.
A key component of unlocking the ability to pass a continuing resolution to end the shutdown is the agreement on three appropriations bills packaged together in a ‘minibus’: Agriculture-FDA, Military Construction-Veter, and Legislative Branch. Republicans aim to move these bills as a sign of good faith, working with centrist Democrats to quickly reach an agreement. However, challenges persist on both sides of the aisle with regard to securing the necessary votes to overcome procedural hurdles.
Senators will need consent from every lawmaker to speed up consideration of the funding package, and Republicans will require Democratic support to bring it to the floor. Progressives are privately skeptical about agreeing to this, preferring to extract more concessions from Republicans before shoring up votes to end the shutdown. Democratic leadership, too, hasn’t signed off on the package, which could still take several days to finalize.
The Senate Democratic Caucus is expected to meet again Thursday for a closed-door lunch to discuss its broader shutdown strategy, including how hard to press Republicans for extending expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. Meanwhile, House and Senate Republicans must resolve the new stopgap expiration date, with discussions suggesting a January end date instead of Dec. 19, as some GOP senators reportedly favor.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) mentioned that the House is unlikely to pass a December stopgap, making a January end date the more probable option. House GOP and Democratic leadership circles anticipate that if Republicans can agree on a CR date by Friday, the House might vote on the package to reopen the government next week. Nonetheless, many lawmakers, especially in House Democratic leadership, believe the final government reopening won’t happen until the week of Nov. 17, unless significant changes occur in the Senate in the coming hours.