The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a temporary funding bill that would avert a government shutdown as lawmakers failed to finalize negotiations on a broader spending package before the February deadline.
Specifically, the short-term measure would prevent a government shutdown on Feb. 18, when current funding is set to expire, and extend funding for about three weeks through March 11.
This gives both Republicans and Democratic lawmakers more time to finalize negotiations on a more comprehensive spending deal that would keep the government funded at least through September.
Lawmakers had failed to finalize a long-term deal before the Feb. 18 deadline.
“This continuing resolution [CR] is a product of bipartisan, bicameral negotiation to keep the government up and running while Congress finishes important work for the American people,” said DeLauro.
“We are very close to an agreement and I am eager to move this process forward. I have every expectation that we can finalize a framework in short order and then work together to fill in the details and enact an omnibus.”
Back in November, officials had insisted the drinking water was safe and the problem under control but later the Navy said it was investigating reports of chemical odor in the water from nearby residents.
In December, the Navy said it was temporarily pausing operations at Red Hill pending the investigation.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-N.Y.) said on Tuesday that while the latest legislation ensures that the government can continue as normal without a shutdown, “we cannot, however, simply allow the government to operate under last year’s funding levels for the remainder of the 2022 fiscal year.”
Hoyer had previously expressed some frustration regarding the delay in lawmakers coming to an agreement on the budget bills to fund the government, which is among the most basic of congressional responsibilities.
“We should have passed all 12 appropriation bills to fund the government for this coming fiscal year that we’re now in—fiscal year ‘22—we should have passed that by Sept. 30,” he said on MSNBC. “We didn’t. As a result, we needed to CR ... and we’re now doing an additional one, because we haven’t gotten our work done on time.”
However, Hoyer said he was optimistic that an agreement could be reached soon.
“I think that we’re going to get agreement both on the topline—how much spending is going to be and how it will be spent—but it’s not there yet,” he added.
Tuesday’s passage of the short-term spending bill is the third time Congress has passed such a bill in an effort to keep the federal government running since the fiscal year began in October.