Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Monday that the Senate is running out of time to pass another round of government funding bills before lawmakers leave Washington for the Christmas recess — raising fresh concerns about yet another shutdown threat early next year, Politico reported.
Thune, who has spent more than two weeks trying to jump-start debate on a new package of spending measures, acknowledged that objections from individual senators have stalled progress.
The South Dakota Republican has been seeking unanimous consent to bundle multiple appropriations bills for floor consideration, bills that would fund most federal agencies through next September, the report said.
"It would be great if we could get the approps process going and actually have a package on the floor," Thune told reporters. "Whether we conclude it before the Christmas holiday or not — at least it would be queued up and ready to go in January."
The Senate is scheduled to remain in session for only three more weeks before adjourning for the year. Thune warned that the clock is working against them.
"You've got to understand the time standpoint and the calendar, what we've got to get done," he said. "There's a lot of stuff we've got to deal with."
Congress is facing another shutdown deadline on Jan. 30, just weeks after lawmakers narrowly averted disaster by passing a short-term spending bill to end the 43-day government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history.
That stopgap measure funded only a small portion of the federal government and included a bipartisan compromise allowing three of the 12 annual appropriations bills to move forward.
The remaining nine funding bills — covering the Pentagon, health programs, education, homeland security, and dozens of other federal agencies — must still be negotiated and passed by both chambers.
Without a deal, large parts of the government will again run out of money at the end of January.
Even if the Senate manages to approve a spending package before leaving town, Thune stressed that the bills will only matter if Senate leaders can reach a compromise that can also clear the House.
With Republicans holding a narrow majority in the lower chamber and conservatives demanding steeper cuts, broad agreement remains elusive.
Congress, Thune noted, still has "a lot of stuff" to resolve — and very little time to do it.
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