Congress avoids shutdown, gives itself three more weeks

With only hours to spare, the Senate passed a continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the government until March 11. Although legislative leaders assured a budget deal to fund the government through the fiscal year (September 30, 2022) was in the offing, the tortuous path to the CR left many in doubt.

A series of nonbudget amendments were proposed by Republican senators, ranging from banning sales of drug paraphernalia to blocking vaccine mandates in the military and in schools, which delayed the final vote. The narrow votes on those measures reflected the deeply split makeup of the Senate and presaged a tough road ahead for Democratic leadership to garner 60 votes for the omnibus budget.

Budget deal struck?

Although carefully managed leaks reveal some kind of a budget deal has been reached, details of the deal, including the amount of money involved, are still secret. The passage of the CR gives Congress few legislative days to agree on an omnibus spending bill. The CR, which keeps the government funded at levels in place for the prior fiscal year, also maintains the prior administration’s spending priorities and therefore forestalls agencies and departments from allocating money to new programs and filling related positions. Reaching a deal on the omnibus spending bill will give the administration a way to fund its own priorities.

The rumored budget deal would allow for increased military and domestic spending, free up some funds previously approved in the infrastructure bill, and reintroduce “earmarks,” which permit legislators to siphon money to projects in their states or districts.