Congressional leaders unveiled on Tuesday another stopgap bill to avert a government shutdown at the end of the week, just days before the Christmas holiday.
The continuing resolution (CR) seeks to provide funds to various departments through March 14, 2025, and more than $100 billion in disaster aid, according to early reports.
Included in its 1,547 pages were many other provisions, such as a one-year farm bill extension, pharmacy benefit management reform, and money for submarines.
The measure also has sections to transfer jurisdiction of RFK stadium to D.C. and funds to rebuild Maryland’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which was wrecked by a ship collision.
Earlier, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said the CR was intended to be “simple,” but it also was “important” to address hurricane disasters and help struggling farmers.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) later said he was “pleased” with the CR being “free of cuts and poison pills, while also securing Democratic priorities.”
He touted “millions for child care,” “workforce training and job placement,” proposals to help the U.S. “out-compete” the Chinese Communist Party, and more.
Another bill that was released on Tuesday, one called the “Disaster Offset and Government Efficiency Act” or “DOGE Act,” aims to rein in some spending.
Congress has until midnight on Friday to pass funding legislation to avoid a shutdown. If a 72-hour rule to review the CR is followed, it will come down to the final hours.
With the process involving negotiations between a GOP-controlled House and Democrat-led Senate, some members ultimately did not approve of the final result.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) bemoaned the CR’s length, “billions in reckless and unpaid spending,” and having “no time” to review all of the provisions it contains.
He added that this was “another reason” why President-elect Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is needed to “to help us stop this crap.”
In a post to X, the conservative House Freedom Caucus shared demands for moving what it called a “Cramnibus” forward with a rule that “ensures” a few things.
The group called for “a full 72 hours to read” the continuing resolution, as well as a vote on the DOGE Act “to cut non-defense spending 13% to pre-COVID 2019 levels.”
Also listed was an amendment to “stop” President Joe Biden’s “ongoing fire sale of border wall construction materials,” a blitz first reportedby The Daily Wire.
Trump said in a post to Truth Social on Friday that the Biden administration’s efforts to sell of border wall construction materials was “CRAZY” and “must be stopped.”
He further explained: “It will cost the U.S. a fortune, and time, to get the exact same wall to replace what has been sold, and the new wall will cost triple the price.”
Congress has leaned on multiple CRs in recent years, including last September. The trend may change with the GOP controlling the House, Senate, and White House next year.
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