Thune says House GOP should return to pass new funding bill
Thune says House GOP should return to pass new funding bill
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said Monday that it was time for House Republicans to reconvene and pass a new “clean” short-term funding bill amid the lack of progress toward ending the government shutdown.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has kept his members out of session since passing a stopgap measure in September to fund the government through Nov. 21. But with the government shuttered since Oct. 1 and no end in sight in the Senate over the protracted fight to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies, Thune suggested the House come back to prolong the possible funding deadline.
“Every day that passes, we have less time to fund the government,” Thune said when asked by a reporter whether the House should consider coming back in session.
“Every week that drags by, it’s going to become harder and harder to actually have an appropriations process.”
Congressional Republicans initially intended for the House-passed funding bill, which has failed 10 times to clear the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold, to give appropriators more time to complete an annual budget. But with no progress being made during the shutdown, leaders fears they will need more time once the government is finally reopened.
Last week, House Republican appropriators voiced their frustration to the Washington Examiner, expressing their concerns that they cannot do their jobs and will not bring the remaining full-year funding bills to the floor until the government reopens.
SENATE STAFFERS TO MISS FIRST PAYCHECK AS HUNDREDS SEEK SHUTDOWN RELIEF LOANS
“Every day that goes by, we waste lots of valuable time for finishing out our work as appropriators, whatever that may be: our individual bills or some sort of minibus, and even other options that are being talked about after the government shut down, if we get into any or requests that a lot of us are interested in doing,” Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) said.
At 20 days, this shutdown is the third-longest on record.
Rachel Schilke contributed to this report.
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
