Lawmakers have just a few days to finalize language on a new stopgap spending bill. Current government spending expires Thursday night.
Appropriators are planning another continuing resolution that would fund the government through Dec. 20, in hopes that the extra month would give them time to work out differences on all 12 annual spending bills. Negotiators are still trying to settle on how much to allocate to each individual bill.
One solution may be using emergency funds to pay for veterans’ health care programs, which would free up some nondefense discretionary money, which is subject to a budget cap. House Democrats have floated the idea to Senate leaders and the White House, CQ reported.
But the biggest sticking point continues to be the President’s demand to fund a southern border wall. The White House has signaled it will accept a lower amount for the wall than originally requested but wants to maintain an authority it claims lets President Trump divert money from military construction projects to the wall.
“Unless something unusual happens around here, I don’t see how we get all our work done and put all the pieces together by [Dec.] 20th,” House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee chair Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) said, according to The Hill.