House Democrats have introduced a short-term funding bill with the hopes of avoiding a government shutdown in the days ahead.
Congress needs to pass a new funding bill before Feb. 18 to keep the federal government functioning normally. If a spending bill is not signed into law by President Joe Biden by that date, many government agencies would temporarily be closed, and thousands of non-essential employees would be furloughed.
On Monday, House Democrats introduced a short-term bill that would keep the government funded through March 11. That would give lawmakers time to work out a more comprehensive agreement on President Joe Biden's 2022 budget.
On Sunday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, said that negotiations were ongoing.
"Negotiations are very vigorous, and I think that we're going to get agreement both on the top line, how much spending is going to be, and how it will be spent," Hoyer said, according to NBC News. "But it's not there yet so I expect to do a continuing resolution to continue the authorization for government to operate and be funded this coming week, and hopefully the Senate will do the same."
Should the bill pass the Democrat-controlled House, it would move on to the Senate. There, Democrats only hold control of the chamber via a tiebreaker vote by Vice President Kamala Harris. Should it bill pass the Senate, it would head to the White House for Biden's final approval.
JUST IN @Newsy: House Democrats introduce short-term funding extension to keep government open to March 11 (currently slated to shutdown on Feb 18).
— Nathaniel Reed (@ReedReports) February 7, 2022
Still needs to be passed by the House and Senate (needs bipartisan support in the Senate) and to be signed by Pres. Biden.
