Congress Approves Bill To Prevent Government Shutdown

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Congress Approves Bill To Prevent Government Shutdown
Published on 03-07-2009 Email To Friend Print Version


Source: Bloomberg

The U.S. Congress approved a stopgap funding measure to keep the government from shutting down as lawmakers work to resolve last-minute disputes over a $410 billion “omnibus” spending package.

President Barack Obama signed into law tonight the legislation extending through March 11 a resolution that funds most federal agencies. It was scheduled to expire tonight.

The House passed the funding extension, 328 to 50, earlier today and the Senate unanimously approved it. The resolution to continue funding at current levels was needed because Senate Republicans yesterday blocked approval of the omnibus bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said late yesterday he was probably one vote short of the 60 needed to end debate and bring the bill to a final vote.

The omnibus combines nine annual appropriations bills remaining from last year that would fund federal agencies through September, the end of the government’s fiscal year. It has already been approved by the House. Senate Democrats this week defeated a dozen Republican amendments, most of which attempted to cut the measure’s spending.

A dozen more Republican amendments are pending, including one offered by Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign that would drop a Democratic-sponsored plan to phase out a school voucher program in Washington, D.C. The program, created by Republicans, allows an estimated 1,700 children from poor families to attend private schools at public expense.

Pay Raises

Another amendment, from Louisiana Republican David Vitter, would eliminate long-standing provisions that give members of Congress automatic annual pay increases. His amendment would require lawmakers to vote to boost their pay. Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, has proposed an amendment designed to make it easier for lawmakers to strike individual pet projects from bills.

If any changes are made to the omnibus bill, the House would have to approve it again. Reid said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, warned him she won’t do that. Pelosi said if the Senate makes any changes to the bill, she will drop the legislation in favor of a measure extending the current stopgap funding legislation for the rest of the year, Reid said.

“She said, ‘We have put our members through a lot over here on this appropriations bill -- I am not going to put them through any more,’” he said.

The Democrats who control the House barred lawmakers from offering floor amendments to the spending plan as it proceeded through their chamber, a rule a Republican noted during today’s debate on the stopgap measure.

“The Senate is doing what the House could only dream of doing -- offering and debating amendments to the omnibus bill,” said Representative Jerry Lewis, the top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee. “It’s no wonder so many members of the House aspire to serve in the Senate.”