Lawmakers face tight deadline to pass funding bills

Congressional negotiators on Tuesday continued to hammer out the details of a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package that would fund federal agencies until the end of September, as yet another deadline loomed to keep the government open.

A deal to keep the government funded expires Friday at midnight. Lawmakers said they plan to release the final text of a bill to approve full funding for fiscal 2022 Tuesday, so that the House can vote on it before Democrats in that chamber go on a three-day retreat in Philadelphia, after which the Senate would send the bill to President Biden’s desk on Friday.

Although most of the details of the bill remain under wraps as appropriators finalize its language, a few details have emerged. Included in the legislation is $14 billion in aid for Ukraine and $15 billion of the $22 billion in COVID-19 response spending requested by the Biden administration.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also told reporters that reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act could also be included in the final bill text. But Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said his proposal to set aside funding to help restaurants struggling due to the pandemic ultimately was left out of the package.

But as Tuesday went on, lawmakers began making contingency plans. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has told lawmakers that they could be expected to return to Capitol Hill on Friday to vote on the measure, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy suggested that senators may not vote until Saturday on the bill, which would mean an hours-long government shutdown.

Appropriators have ruled out the possibility of passing another short-term continuing resolution to keep the government open.