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A stopgap spending bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), has been drafted in the U.S. Senate to prevent a partial government shutdown, local time on the 3rd.
The Senate Appropriations Committee reached a bipartisan agreement to keep federal government operations funded at current levels through December 11, a month after the midterm elections, and will hold a procedural vote on the measure today.
The temporary spending bill includes "necessary adjustments" for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), disaster relief funds, and various naval vessel construction projects.
In particular, it contains a provision prohibiting changes to the "grant approval procedures" that would prevent the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from blocking or arbitrarily altering the execution of federal grants.
Senator Susan Collins (Republican-Maine), chair of the Appropriations Committee, said in a statement, "I am pleased that this bipartisan agreement prevents the implementation of OMB's proposed regulations regarding federal financial assistance."
Senator Patty Murray (Democrat-Washington), vice chair of the committee, emphasized, "We blocked a corrupt policy that would have allowed Trump to hold more federal grants hostage."
With both the appropriations committee and party leaders in both chambers welcoming the contents of the stopgap bill, the Senate is expected to wrap up processing the measure this week ahead of its summer recess.
However, because the House of Representatives is in recess until the end of this month, passing the bill through both the Senate and the House is expected to be possible next month.
If the stopgap spending bill takes effect, it will buy time for the processing of the full budget.
Even if the main budget is not processed and the fiscal year ends in late September, a shutdown can be avoided.
Last year, the second Donald Trump administration failed to process the main budget by the end of September and failed to arrange a stopgap bill, plunging into a shutdown that caused chaos such as aviation disruptions and suspended grant payments before ending on November 12.
This was the longest shutdown in history at 43 days.
Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security entered a partial shutdown due to the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies, which ended after 76 days on April 30.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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