Lawmakers race the clock to avert shutdown ahead of midnight
Lawmakers are racing the clock with the Senate and House both expected to vote to approve a short-term funding patch to keep the government open. Democrats, who control both chambers of Congress, have so far projected confidence that a shutdown will not occur, but with the deadline rapidly approaching, lawmakers have no room for error.
Mid-October: The government reaches its borrowing limit, which could trigger a first-ever US default and a self-inflicted economic crisis if the US is unable to pay all its bills on time. It could delay federal payments, including Social Security checks and monthly child tax credit payments.
“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, a New York Democrat, said.
Beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, the Senate is slated to hold several amendment votes before voting on the continuing resolution. The House is expected to take up the measure later Thursday once it is approved by the Senate.
Congressional Democrats initially attempted to address the government funding issue alongside the debt limit, a strategy that was thwarted by Republicans in the Senate who have insisted that Democrats must act alone on the debt limit.
If lawmakers manage to stave off a shutdown by passing a “clean” stopgap bill, it will punt the debt limit issue further down the road with another key deadline fast approaching.
Democrats do have the option to raise the debt limit on their own using a process known as budget reconciliation, but they have argued that route is too risky and would risk a default, leaving it unclear how the issue will be resolved.
