(Bloomberg) -- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said congressional efforts to put together a spending package fell short over the weekend, leaving the US to “once again face the specter of a harmful and unnecessary government shutdown” starting March 2.
“While we had hoped to have legislation ready this weekend that would give ample time for members to review the text, it is clear now that House Republicans need more time to sort themselves out,” Schumer said in a letter to colleagues on Sunday. He asked senators to keep their schedules flexible so they can work on avoiding a lapse in federal funding that would partially kick in on Saturday.
A deal on appropriations bills, if it eventually happens, would ease the chance of a damaging closure of the US government. At the same time, it would create political headaches for Republican leaders among conservatives who have demanded the threat of a shutdown be used to force President Joe Biden to change US border and immigration policies.
GOP congressional leaders have instead chosen to hold up emergency funding for Ukraine to try to force the president’s hand.
The immediate goal is to avert a closure of the departments of Agriculture, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs and Energy, along with the Food and Drug administration. These agencies are funded though a stopgap measure through March 1, while the rest of the US government faces a March 8 deadline.
Schumer blamed “extreme” Republicans and former President Donald Trump’s sway over the party for the deadlock. He also called on Speaker Mike Johnson to put a Senate-passed emergency national-security funding bill to a House vote, saying it would pass “with a large number” of Democratic and Republican supporters.
“Congress has a chance, right now, to ensure Putin is not victorious,” he said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.