U.S. lawmakers reach deal to avoid pre-election shutdown

A seagull walks in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, U.S., September 20, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW

U.S. congressional leaders announced a deal on Sunday (September 22, 2024) to extend funding for the federal government until mid-December, averting a contentious shutdown just weeks ahead of the election.

Government funding expires at the end of September, and with Congress nowhere near an agreement on a full-year budget, a stopgap measure — known as a “continuing resolution” (CR) — was widely expected.

However, Republicans had demanded for weeks that any extension of funds be linked to new requirements that voters prove their American citizenship, a push motivated by Donald Trump’s unfounded claims of widespread fraud in US elections.

A vote on a bill combining the voting provisions with a six-month funding extension failed on Wednesday in the Republican-controlled House.

The deal announced Sunday (September 22) excludes the voting provisions and extends funding only until December 20.

That still pushes the funding debate until well after the November 5 election, in which control of the House, Senate and presidency are expected to be decided by thin margins.

The next Congress is seated shortly after the New Year, while the inauguration of the next president — Republican Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris — takes place on January 20.

“While I am pleased bipartisan negotiations quickly led to a government funding agreement free of cuts and poison pills, this same agreement could have been done two weeks ago,” Democrat Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, said in a statement.

The bill, which the House is expected to vote on this week, would also provide an additional $231 million for the US Secret Service, a major increase following the two attempts on Trump’s life.

It also provides $47 million in additional funding for security in Washington for the presidential inauguration.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson described the bill in a letter to colleagues as “a very narrow, bare-bones CR including only the extensions that are absolutely necessary.”

Mr. Trump had previously called for Republicans to reject any continuing resolution unless they got “every ounce” of the voting provisions they wanted.

“While this is not the solution any of us prefer, it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances,” Mr. Johnson said on September 22.