US Senate races ahead of House on spending bills, aims to avoid gov't shutdown
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Top Democrats in the U.S. Senate will look to gain the upper hand over House Republicans in talks over government funding when the chamber returns from summer recess on Tuesday, as the threat of an embarrassing October government shutdown looms.
A bipartisan group of senators in the Democratic-controlled chamber was collaborating on President Joe Biden's request for a stopgap spending bill to keep federal agencies funded until deals can be brokered on the full fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.
Democrats and Republicans in the Senate Appropriations Committee have backed the 12 separate spending bills that would finance most government operations for fiscal 2024, while their House Appropriations Committee has been producing bills with only Republican support.
The Senate so far is sticking with the $1.59 trillion discretionary spending budget Biden and top House Republican Kevin McCarthy agreed to this spring, while some hardline House conservatives push for cuts below what their leader agreed to.
«To avoid a harmful and unnecessary government shutdown, the House should follow the Senate’s incredible lead and pass their appropriations bills in a bipartisan way,» Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer boasted in a letter to his fellow Democrats on Friday.
The White House last week called on Congress to pass a short-term «continuing resolution» to keep the government funded past Sept. 30, avoiding the fourth shutdown in a decade.
Some hardline House Republicans have dismissed the risks of a government shutdown, saying it could be a cudgel for achieving deeper spending cuts to address the $31.4 trillion national debt. Few other lawmakers in the House or Senate have expressed such
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