The House of Representatives aligned with the Senate on Thursday, passing an approved stopgap spending bill to narrowly avoid a government shutdown.
Washington, D.C., is already in chaos, as Democratic infighting threatens two massive spending bills, both White House priorities. House progressives are threatening to derail a vote on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan, inked in the Senate and focused on physical infrastructure priorities, and a pair of Senate Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), are demanding that Democrats hold off on passing a $3.5 trillion “reconciliation” bill, aimed at “human infrastructure” — a massive handout to mostly progressive programs.
Just as both deadlines loom — the House is scheduled to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill on Thursday evening — Congress hit a budget deadline, and the government was scheduled to shut down operations if a stopgap funding measure was not approved in time.
“The House joined the Senate on Thursday to approve a bill to fund the government through Dec. 3 and avert a government shutdown for now,” Fox News reported late Thursday. “The House voted 254-175 and the bill will now head to President Biden’s desk. It’s one of several political issues being followed closely by the markets, which have fallen Thursday amid uncertainty about the passage of a bipartisan infrastructure bill and President Biden’s $3.5 trillion spending package.”
“Sixty-five senators voted in favor of the short-term funding bill, which did not include a provision to raise the debt ceiling,” the outlet continued.
October 1st marks the end of the U.S. government’s fiscal year, forcing a similar showdown whenever there is a divide in Congress. Federal legislators are just weeks away, though, from another financial deadline: the debt ceiling. On October 18th, the United States will reach its limit and will no longer be able to spend money unless Congress votes to raise the debt ceiling — also a forthcoming battle between Democrats, who control a wide margin in the House and a narrow margin in the Senate, and Republicans, who will be looking for legislative concessions for agreeing to more debt.
Republicans blocked a House-passed appropriations measure that would have paired funding the government through December with a suspension of the debt ceiling, CNBC reported earlier this week, but Senate Republicans voted that down. The bill that ultimately passed the Senate does not suspend the debt ceiling.
The stopgap funding bill will go to President Joe Biden’s desk where it needs to be signed by midnight.
The measure is likely a small sign of relief for Democratic leaders who are still marshaling their caucuses for an anticipated Thursday vote on both major spending bills. Progressives are concerned that if the House passes the bipartisan bill first, moderate Democrats may force changes to the $3.5 trillion spending measure before it can pass the Senate, likely jettisoning items on the progressive priority list.
Manchin and Sinema, who must agree to the $3.5 spending bill in order for it to pass through reconciliation — a little-used strategy that allows the Senate to pass budget-focused bills by a simple majority, rather than a super-majority — are both standing firm against the $3.5 trillion price tag, insisting that no bill should pass through reconciliation that authorizes more than $1.5 trillion in spending.