The House of Representatives left Washington for its August recess and members don’t come back until Sept. 12. When they return, they will have 12 scheduled work days to pass 11 bills in order to avoid a government shutdown.
Government funding expires Sept. 30. So far, the House has passed only the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs funding bill, one of the 12 appropriations bills it has to pass every year to fund the government.
“We’re going to continue negotiations during August to make sure that we get back to funding the priorities of the nation,” Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., said during a debate on the House floor.
Democrats said the House should stay in Washington to work out the differences and get it done.
“The Republican conference is saying they’re sending us home for six weeks without funding the government. That we have one bill, one bill out of 12 completed because extremists are holding your conference hostage,” Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said in response to Scalise.
The Senate is also leaving for the month of August. It will have 17 work days to avoid a shutdown when senators return. Once both chambers pass their own versions of the 12 appropriations bills, they will have to go to conference to iron out the differences before those bills can be signed by the president.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters he’s already in contact with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to start as soon as possible.
“Leader Schumer had the same commitment that I had. Let’s get this work done and let’s try to get it done before September 30,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy expressed confidence in the House’s ability to deliver. He even criticized people who don’t think they can do it and described what he called “the five stages of the D.C. press cycle of doubt.”
“We will never give up on the American people. We made a commitment to them and we continue to keep it time and again,” McCarthy said.
But Democrats are expressing concern about the House Freedom Caucus, a group of fiscally conservative Republicans. Its members have threatened to withhold their votes if the bills don’t cut spending down to FY2022 levels.
Freedom Caucus members said they want at least 72 hours to review each of the bills. They are adamant that spending must not increase the current $32 trillion deficit. The group said it will do everything it can to block bills that increase the nation’s debt.
“We should not fear a government shutdown,” Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., said. “Most of what we do up here is bad anyway.”
“Extreme MAGA Republicans are marching the American people and the Congress toward a government shutdown. It’s in their DNA,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said.
There is another option to avoid a shutdown. Congress can pass what’s called a continuing resolution to keep the government open for a short period of time while finishing the appropriations process. But many lawmakers opposed to that, so it’s not a simple solution.
