Here’s what is going to happen.
In an effort to get the government funded through the remainder of the fiscal year, Congressional negotiators are pushing to finalize an extensive package that has more than a few sticking points.
After advancing a continuing resolution last Thursday, Congress has three weeks ― until March 11 ― to fund the government.
Last week’s motion is Congress’s third continuing resolution in 2022’s fiscal year. Despite Congressional leaders struggling to reach a bipartisan agreement, negotiators are hopeful Thursday’s continuing resolution will be the last.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, expressed hesitation at the prospect of a fourth temporary bill when questioned about it last week.
Until last week, negotiators were facing difficulties over a months-long stalemate, failing to resolve how to divide funds and thorny legislation funding like abortion.
However, recently negotiators have made a breakthrough following leaders announcing a bipartisan framework deal for an omnibus package. The framework would fund the government until the end of September, although appropriators have expressed that plenty of work still needs to be done on the framework.
According to a report by The Hill, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, a Ranking Member on the Senate Appropriations Committee, revealed that if negotiation continued in a bipartisan trajectory, Congress could finalize the package early in March, but emphasized that nothing was final until the package “is sealed and signed.”
If this omnibus package is passed it would allow the Democrat-led Congress to shape government funding for the current fiscal year, given the current funding levels ― previously enacted by the Trump administration ― are the ones being extended through continuing resolutions.
