As a government shutdown at midnight Friday looms, Congress continues to try to find a path forward on extending government funding and possibly addressing the debt limit in an effort to appease President-elect Trump, who has said the debt limit should be addressed alongside continued government funding.
As a reminder, government funding expires at midnight tonight. This means all non-essential services and functions of the government will cease, while essential services – like FSIS inspection of meat and poultry products – will continue even in the event of a shutdown.
Background
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) negotiated with House Democrats for weeks on a Continuing Resolution (CR), which funds the government’s discretionary budget at current levels that would run through March 14, 2025. That CR also included many other policy priorities and provisions, including a one-year extension of the Farm Bill (which expires alongside government funding), roughly $100 billion in funding related to natural disasters, $30 billion in assistance for farmers, approval of year-round sales of gasoline with 15 percent ethanol (known as E15), duty-free access for Haitian exports, extensions to health tax provisions, and others.
Speaker Johnson released that bill early this week, but it was never put up for a vote. President-elect Trump did not approve of the bill and believed it included too many policy priorities. He also announced via Truth Social that he wanted Congress to include a provision to raise the U.S. government’s federal borrowing limit, known as the debt limit, beyond when federal outlays are expected to reach the limit.
House Republicans then pivoted to a CR that would include disaster and farm aid and a two-year debt limit raise, dropping all other policies from the previous version. The House voted on that bill late Thursday, and it was roundly rejected, with 38 Republicans joining all but two House Democrats in voting against the bill.
Current status
Negotiations continue as of publication. House Republican leadership has indicated plans to hold a vote on a CR that includes disaster and farm aid as well as a one-year extension of the farm bill without a debt limit raise. Procedurally, the plan is to hold this vote under a “suspension of the rules,” which would require a two-thirds majority of the House for passage.
House Democrats have not indicated how they plan to vote on this proposal. President Biden has not indicated whether he would sign the bill and President-elect Trump has also not yet signaled support for the package.
House leadership has indicated they plan to address the debt limit in 2025 via the “budget reconciliation” process, which bypasses traditional rules and only requires a simple majority in both chambers of Congress.
Once the House passes legislation, the Senate must pass it and President Biden must sign it before officially averting a shutdown.
