SUMMARY: With government funding set to expire on September 30, House Republicans continue to push for significant funding cuts and controversial policy riders in any FY 2024 funding package or short-term Continuing Resolution (CR), leading to growing fears of a government shutdown.

Government funding is set to expire next Saturday night, but it is unclear how the House and Senate can reach a deal in a timely manner to avert a government shutdown.

Despite House Republicans announcing a proposed stopgap funding measure on Sunday night that would have resulted in an 8% funding cut for most agencies for a month, the bill has not come up for a vote in the House due to objections by fellow House Republicans. Instead, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) twice attempted to pass the FY 2024 Defense Appropriations Act, H.R. 4365. However, efforts to pass the traditionally bipartisan bill were unsuccessful as House Republicans did not have the votes from their own caucus to move forward. The House has left for the weekend, but members have been told to be on call for possible votes.

Since Speaker McCarthy has been unable to garner enough votes from House Republicans to pass any version of a CR, he has announced plans to consider the remaining FY 2024 funding bills on the House floor next week. As you know, unlike the bipartisan appropriations bills being considered in the Senate, these House appropriations bills include significant cuts to agency funding that go far beyond the cuts agreed to in the bipartisan debt limit deal earlier this year. It is not yet clear if House Republicans have the votes to pass these bills or that they could pass them all before the deadline at the end of next week, but even if they do, the bills face bipartisan opposition in the Senate and would have no chance of becoming law.

Senate appropriators have reportedly been working on a bipartisan stopgap funding measure that would include disaster relief funding, Ukraine aid and wildland firefighter pay and mirror the White House’s supplemental funding request. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) filed cloture on the FAA reauthorization bill yesterday afternoon, which is expected to be the vehicle for the Continuing Resolution, setting up votes on the CR in the Senate next week.

NTEU will continue to advocate against a shutdown and press for adequate funding for our agencies in a final funding agreement. I will keep you updated on these developments. For more information click here, and continue to be on the lookout for grassroots alerts to your personal email.