The federal government faces the threat of shutting down Friday at midnight, despite an announcement from congressional leaders Thursday of an agreement to extend funding into February, because Republican senators are objecting to President Biden’s vaccine mandate.
Key negotiators from both parties announced a plan Thursday morning that would keep the federal government funded, but due to Senate rules governing procedure, all 100 senators would need to agree in order to quickly pass the plan before Friday, and a handful of GOP senators are standing by their threats to delay the process over the vaccine rules.
House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, announced the latest plan, which would go through Feb. 18, and the House is expected to vote as soon as Thursday.
Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, also said negotiators had reached a deal, though his announcement made no mention of Republican objections over the vaccine mandate.
“I’m pleased that we have finally reached an agreement on the continuing resolution,” Shelby said in his statement.
Separate from the vaccine issue, Democrats had wanted to extend funding only into January, a concession DeLauro acknowledged in her statement.
“To build pressure for an omnibus, the CR includes virtually no changes to existing funding or policy (anomalies),” DeLauro said in the announcement. “However, Democrats prevailed in including $7 billion for Afghanistan evacuees. The end date is February 18. While I wish it were earlier, this agreement allows the appropriations process to move forward toward a final funding agreement which addresses the needs of the American people.”
The Biden administration issued a statement Thursday morning that said it “strongly urges swift passage” of the continuing resolution to fund the government through Feb. 18.
A group of Senate Republicans, however, have repeatedly threatened throughout the week to delay passage of the continuing resolution over the Biden administration’s rule that requires employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their employees are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or undergo regular testing and wear face masks in the workplace.
Read more about where things stand here.
Source: www.cnn.com