U.S. Policymakers Have Until Dec. 11 To Avoid Government Shutdown
In late September, U.S. lawmakers in the House and Senate passed, and President Donald Trump signed, a short-term appropriations bill. That legislation expires on December 11, which means policymakers now have just 10 days to avert a shutdown of government operations. Fortunately, lawmakers did make progress on a possible deal before the United States’ Thanksgiving holiday.
As Politico reported, lawmakers on the House and Senate appropriations panels agreed on November 24 to a set of funding levels, a move that hopefully paves the way for passage of a $1.4 trillion spending package. The agreement on the funding allocations establishes overall totals for 12 appropriations measures that will be rolled into one massive omnibus bill that would boost federal budgets for the rest of the fiscal year.
No other details have been released, but lawmakers are expected to continue meeting this week to flesh out the finer details of the 12-bill spending package and to pass the legislation, perhaps even by the end of the week.