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With a midnight deadline fast approaching, lawmakers are planning votes Thursday on a short-term spending bill to keep the federal government operating through early December.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, announced a deal with Republicans on Wednesday night to vote on a stopgap measure that also includes funding for natural disaster relief and aid to Afghan refugees.
“We have an agreement on the CR, the continuing resolution, to prevent a government shutdown and we should be voting on that tomorrow morning,” Schumer said. He said a series of votes would begin at 10:30 a.m. The stopgap would fund the government through Dec. 3.
Without a so-called continuing resolution, the government would partially shut down after midnight. Past shutdowns have resulted in the furloughs of hundreds of thousands of federal workers; delayed tax refunds; and the closures of national parks and monuments.
Read: Here’s what would happen if Washington doesn’t prevent a government shutdown
In a speech on Wednesday, Schumer said of the bill: “We can approve this measure quickly and send it to the House, so it can reach the president’s desk before funding expires at midnight tomorrow.”
The bill leaves aside the issue of raising the U.S. debt limit, which Republicans say Democrats must do on their own. GOP senators have blocked a House-passed bill that would prevent a shutdown but also would raise the federal borrowing limit, putting pressure on Democrats to deliver a measure that would only address a shutdown.
Now see: What happens if the U.S. defaults on its debt?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday afternoon that the House would pass a stopgap funding bill preventing a shutdown.
Meanwhile, the outcome of a planned House vote on a $1 trillion infrastructure bill was less clear Thursday, as progressive Democrats were threatening to oppose it.
Read: Pelosi signals House vote on bipartisan infrastructure bill may not occur Thursday
Stocks are ready to ride out the last trading day of September — and the last day of the quarter — on a high note, with futures
YM00,
up.
