The Hill By Jordain Carney - 03/07/22
Lawmakers are racing to lock down a deal to fund the government and provide billions in new aid tied to Ukraine as they barrel toward an end-of-the-week shutdown deadline.
Negotiators worked through the weekend and are aiming to file the massive bill on Tuesday, a leadership aide confirmed to The Hill.
“I believe both sides are close, very close, to arriving at an agreement,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said about the talks.
Congress is facing a time crunch as lawmakers rush to meet Friday night’s deadline to get a bill to President Biden’s desk and avoid a government shutdown.
The House is aiming to be able to vote on the yet-to-be-unveiled bill Wednesday, the aide added. The Senate, meanwhile, is juggling a midweek retreat, which both parties are holding on Wednesday.
That leaves the Senate little time to clear the bill over potential procedural and political hurdles. Because the chamber will have just days to pass the bill, they would need a deal with all 100 senators to speed up the legislation in order to meet the Friday night deadline.
If they aren’t able to hit the deadline, lawmakers would need to pass a short-term continuing resolution (CR), which would continue current funding levels, to buy themselves more time and avoid a shutdown. Leadership isn’t ruling out the possibility but note if it happens they expect it to be days long.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a letter to her caucus over the weekend that the massive bill would include the $10 billion request from the administration for aid to Ukraine.
More:
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/597234-congress-faces-shutdown-crunch-time-amid-ukraine-crisis
