With stopgap legislation set to expire on Friday, lawmakers are continuing to work on overdue spending plans for the rest of the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.
There had been hopes that a proposed agreement might be announced Monday, but they proved premature. Neither the White House nor congressional leaders and negotiators sounded particularly upbeat on Monday, with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy saying the House might be kept in session through next weekend.
With stopgap legislation set to expire on Friday, lawmakers are continuing to work on overdue spending plans for the rest of the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.
There had been hopes that a proposed agreement might be announced Monday, but they proved premature. Neither the White House nor congressional leaders and negotiators sounded particularly upbeat on Monday, with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy saying the House might be kept in session through next weekend.
Democrats have objected to an array of policy “riders” that Republicans have sought to include in the $1.1 trillion spending legislation.
Negotiators have also been discussing measures to extend certain tax breaks and tax credits. These, unfortunately, are likely to require additional government borrowing to make up for the lost revenue.
After the regular budget process broke down this year, Congress in September turned to a “continuing resolution” that generally keeps spending in place at Fiscal 2015’s levels regardless of changing needs and priorities.
Although the continuing resolution is supposed to expire Friday, top lawmakers and the White House have indicated it could be extended for a short period to avoid a government shutdown while a final deal is wrapped up.
