House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had what Mnuchin called a “productive meeting” Thursday to try to negotiate a stopgap spending bill to keep the government open past Nov. 21, when current spending levels expire. Mnuchin said the White House has “no intention” of letting the government shut down, Politico reported.
Congress is working on a stopgap that would extend current spending levels to Dec. 20 to give appropriators time to work out the details of all 12 spending bills by an ambitious deadline of Dec. 31. Lawmakers have not even settled on how much money to allocate to each bill.
Customs and Border Protection photo by Jaime Rodriguez Sr.

Acting EI&E Leaders Say Focus Is Readiness, Lethality; Subcommittee Chair Urges Shedding Empty Facilities
The Pentagon is focused on mission readiness, lethality and the safety of installations, officials told lawmakers last week. The acting heads of energy, installations and environment for DOD and the services were testifying at a House Armed Services Readiness...