The Democrat-led House passed a stopgap continuing resolution (CR) Thursday afternoon that would continue government funding until Nov. 21 and avoid a looming partial government shutdown on Oct. 1, CQ reported.
The measure passed 301-123 with just three Democrats voting against and 76 Republicans supporting the measure, according to the report. A Senate vote on the measure is expected next week.
Current FY 2019 funding expires Sept. 30, and if the measure passes the Senate next week along with White House approval, it would postpone final decisions on fiscal 2020 spending to just prior to the Thanksgiving congressional break.
The White House hasn’t made any public endorsement of the measure.
Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) praised the House bill at a panel markup Thursday morning, according to the report.
“It’s a good bill,” Leahy said. “We’ve come to bipartisan resolution on it. It gives us seven weeks to get our work done.”
The CR is necessary because none of the dozen FY 2020 spending bills have been passed into law yet. Congressional leaders and the White House didn’t agree on topline fiscal 2020 funding caps until late July, before heading home for the month-long August recess.
“This is a welcome development, and I will urge the Senate to take up this bill and pass it next week and allow the Committee more time to negotiate bipartisan bills to implement the bipartisan budget agreement reached in July,” Leahy said in a statement in advance of the House vote.
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