Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday the House and Senate will pass a short-term government funding bill in September that will last "until early December" as a way to avoid a government shutdown.
The deal – known as a "continuing resolution" or "CR" – would come amid a standoff in which House conservatives are pushing to cut federal spending below the levels President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed to in their debt ceiling deal.
Schumer said he spoke with McCarthy at the end of July about government funding for fiscal 2024, given that current appropriations expire on September 30.
"I thought it was a good thing that he recognized that we need a CR in September," Schumer said on a press call Tuesday. "I'm supportive of that. As you've seen, again, the Senate appropriators have worked in a bipartisan way to report all 12 bills out, every one of them had near unanimity, but bipartisan work.
"And so a CR until early December provides time for consideration of these bipartisan bills. We urge our House colleagues to emulate the Senate. The only way we're going to avoid a government shutdown is by bipartisan support in both houses."
