Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff voted in favor of a stopgap funding bill to avoid a government shutdown come Oct. 1.
The continuing resolution became a top priority in Congress because it would keep federal agencies funded through Dec. 11 at current levels, with some exceptions, as the midterm election approaches. In the days before the Senate’s August recess, they worked through a variety of nominations and last-minute bills like the CR.
Padilla said while heading to the cloture vote for the stopgap funding bill, they are “still working feverishly,” but avoiding a government shutdown “alone is not insignificant.”
A cloture vote limits debate and advances legislation toward a final vote.
Later on Friday, the Senate voted 91-6 to move the CR to the House. The Senate had a long night — bringing cots in on Friday for some staffers — but, officially passed the bill at 90-6.
The House passed its own version to extend government funding through Dec. 4 before their recess on July 21. The House’s version of the bill passed with a mostly party-line vote of 220-205.
Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, blamed Senate Democrats for past government shutdowns during his July 21 floor remarks on the House CR.
“Senate Democrats won’t even allow markups to progress. It’s impossible to negotiate full-year funding when circumstances make clear that one side is willing to bring the process to a standstill before it can even leave committee,” he said.
The House is expected to push back against the Senate’s version of the patch measure when they return to Washington. When members return in September they will have just 16 days to resolve their differences to pass a continuing resolution.
The Senate’s version of the stopgap includes a temporary halt on a proposed Office of Management and Budget grant rule that would give the Trump administration more control over federal grants.
Democrats have warned that the Trump administration and the Office of Management and Budget’s control over federal grants could be used to steer federal funding toward favored projects while withholding it from others for political reasons — like biomedical research.
“There’s so much scientific research done in San Diego,” Schiff said to Times of San Diego. “The CR prevents … politicized science grants.”
Schiff said the bill would stop the funding from shifting from a “merit-based system to a crony-based system.”
Senate Republican John Kennedy of Louisiana warned this only delays an inevitable win for the White House to control grant-funded projects, according to FOX News.
Both chambers of Congress hope to avoid another historically long government shutdown — like the one last year that ended after 43 days.
Andrea Caldwell, the director of government affairs and advocacy for the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, said during the previous government shutdown the food bank saw an influx of people needing support — from those who lost CalFresh benefits to those furloughed or working without pay.
“The uncertainty is really the hard piece that people grapple with,” Caldwell said. “During the shutdown, there was added uncertainty of ‘Would SNAP benefits be paid?’ ‘Would they not be paid?’ ‘What did that look like?’”
If a CR passes and is signed by the president, it will push off further budget fights until Dec. 11, when the stopgap expires.
“A continuing resolution is a great compromise,” she said. “We always want the full budget, but a continuing resolution does continue the fund aspects and keeps things moving … Anything that keeps things moving, we’re appreciative of.”
