Congress Returns on September 5th!

When Congress returns from its August recess on September 5th, there will be just 25 calendar days left in the 2023 fiscal year.  Speaker McCarthy has advised House Republicans that he believes Congress will have to pass a short-term government funding bill to avoid a shutdown this fall.  The remarks reflect a growing recognition that Congress does not have enough time to reach a full-year funding deal before funding terminates on September 30^th.   Last Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY), said he met recently with McCarthy and agreed to pursue a stopgap bill, often called a continuing resolution or CR.  “Speaker McCarthy and I met a few weeks back and we agreed we should do what’s called a CR — in other words, a congressional resolution where you just extend the existing funding for a few months so we could work this out.  And I thought that was a good sign. But I would say this: Our Republican colleagues in the House need to follow the lead of their Republican colleagues in the Senate and work in a bipartisan way.”  The Senate, which requires 60 votes to overcome a filibuster and pass funding bills, is operating on a bipartisan basis by pursuing spending levels both parties support and avoiding controversial policy provisions that either side sees as a poison pill.