Congress is running up on yet another critical government funding deadline on March 22, with one week to go before the potential, partial shutdown of several critical departments.
Negotiators are still working furiously around the clock to finish their work on the remaining six bills.
And so the federal government has once more begun the mandatory process of planning to bring the affected agencies’ nonessential functions to a halt one week from Friday.
“One week prior to the expiration of appropriations bills, regardless of whether the enactment of appropriations appears imminent, OMB will communicate with agency senior officials to remind agencies of their responsibilities to review and update orderly shutdown plans, and will share a draft communication template to notify employees of the status of appropriations,” a document from the White House Office of Management and Budget states.
If this feels familiar, that’s because this is the fifth time since September that lawmakers have run up against a funding deadline, passing stopgap bills in the nick of time in September, November, January and earlier this month to keep the government running.
Congress passed a first slate of government funding bills ahead of another partial deadline earlier this month, providing funding for the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Interior, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development as well as the Food and Drug Administration, military construction and other federal programs.
But funding for the remaining departments and agencies expires at the end of the day March 22. That includes the departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Education and Labor. A series of sticking points remain including over funding for…
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