Senate scheduled to take first stab at short-term CR

Budget

Senate scheduled to take first stab at short-term CR

With less than 15 days until the end of the fiscal year, the Senate is set to vote on a motion to consider a House bill, which will be used as the legislative v...

Nicole Ogrysko@nogryskoWFED

September 16, 2016 4:36 pm

< a min read

With less than 15 days until the end of the fiscal year, the Senate is scheduled to vote Monday evening to consider a House bill that will be used as the legislative vehicle for a short-term continuing resolution.

It’s the very beginning stages of the Senate’s work to pass a spending bill and avoid a government shutdown before the fiscal year ends.

The bill itself, H.R. 5325, is the appropriations bill for the legislative branch, which the House passed in June.

A Democratic leadership aide told Federal News Radio that it hopes the Senate will “reach agreement soon on a three-month CR,” and that the legislation includes funding to prevent the spread of the Zika virus.

Once the Senate passes a CR, House Minority leadership will encourage House Republicans to take it up as soon as possible, the aide said.

Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan said earlier this month that he was “disappointed” to see Congress fall to the same gridlock that it did last year.

Congress has until Sept. 30 to pass some sort of short or long-term budget solution and prevent a government shutdown.