Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) wears a miniature national debt clock during a meeting of the House Rules Committee on H. Res. 863, a resolution introducing articles of impeachment against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Washington, DC, February 5, 2024. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced the resolution in November, 2023, accusing Mayorkas of 'high crimes and misdemeanors' concerning the U.S. border with Mexico. The House is expected to vote on the resolution in the next two days. Image: Allison Bailey/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Time already is starting to run short for Congress to address the threat of an agency funding lapse, with this week the last when both the House and Senate are to be in session ahead of the first deadline of March 1, but with no action on the issue scheduled.
Since the latest temporary extension—the third for the fiscal year that started last October 1—was enacted ahead of a January 19 deadline, there has been scant progress toward heading off yet another threat of a partial government shutdown.
Under the current stopgap measure, agencies funded under the Agriculture, Energy, HUD-Transportation and VA-military construction appropriations bills—which also cover FDA, CFTC, Farm Credit Administration, Army Corps of Engineers and numerous related small agencies and commissions—have spending authority through March 1, while other agencies have funding through March 8.
After this week the Senate plans to be out of session until February 26; while the House is set to be in session next week, it then plans to recess until March 5.
There has been no indication that the Senate will produce any budget measure this week to leave for the House to consider next week, or that the House will produce one next week for the Senate to consider on its return.
Since the most recent extension was enacted, there have been indications of a general agreement on top-line spending but that has not been translated into specific allocations by agency, much less by individual account, as is needed in a regular appropriations bill.
Much of the Senate’s effort in recent weeks has gone toward producing and bringing up for a vote a bill on immigration policy and international assistance, while the House has focused mainly on policy matters including a proposed impeachment of DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Each chamber of Congress sets its own schedule and is able to cut short a scheduled recess, but that is done only rarely.
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