The House is expected to vote on Friday whether to pass key government spending legislation ahead of a fast-approaching shutdown deadline at the end of the day, the culmination of a months-long funding fight on Capitol Hill.
Friday’s tight timeline has sparked fears of a potential, partial shutdown at midnight, though top lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say they are pushing to prevent that.
The bill addresses a slate of critical government operations, including the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, State and the legislative branch.
If the House passes the legislation, as is expected, it would next go to the Senate where lawmakers must reach agreement to swiftly approve the bill. If both chambers of Congress have not passed the legislation before the deadline, a temporary lapse in funding would take place, triggering a partial shutdown. The impact of a partial shutdown would be limited if funding is approved over the weekend before the start of the work week.
As of Thursday night, top House Republicans expected they’ll have the votes to pass the spending package – but it could be close. They’ll need a two-thirds majority to pass the bill, so Democrats will have to help carry it amid a revolt in some quarters of the House GOP Conference, according to senior GOP sources.
It remains unclear if the GOP can win a majority of their conference – a key threshold they try to achieve on every vote.
Lawmakers unveiled the $1.2 trillion government funding package just before 3 a.m. ET on Thursday, and the text is more than 1,000 pages long.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that the text for the legislative package came “in the nick of time,” with fewer than 48 hours out from the…
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