As negotiations move forward on the continuing resolution (CR), Senate leaders appear to be on board with an interim spending measure that will keep the government operating until December 16th, which is also the preferred expiration date for House Democrats, as they prepare the continuing resolution for a vote as soon as mid next week. President Joe Biden requested $47.1 billion in emergency funds as part of his administration’s CR proposal, parts of which may face opposition from Republicans who want a mostly “clean” stopgap without additional spending. Biden’s supplemental request includes $22.4 billion for COVID-19, $4.5 billion for monkeypox, $13.7 billion for Ukraine-related aid and $6.5 billion for natural disaster aid. While military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine has seen widespread support in Congress, Republicans have rejected additional requests for pandemic-related spending since last year. Democrats also plan to include energy infrastructure permitting legislation sought by Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) in the CR. Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) agreed to move permitting legislation before September 30th as part of the negotiations that culminated in Manchin supporting the Democrats’ climate, health care and tax reconciliation bill, the Inflation Reduction Act. Both Senators said Wednesday that it would be attached to the stopgap. A CR through mid-December would pave the way for a potential final fiscal 2023 appropriations agreement during the lame-duck period between the November midterm elections and the start of the new year.
Earlier this week, Senate Democrats were considering adding legislation that would codify same-sex marriage rights to the CR, but they are now moving away from that approach. Schumer said a floor vote on same-sex marriage will happen in the coming weeks, and the party prefers to take up the legislation separate from the CR. Senators Tammy Baldwin, (D-Wisconsin) and Susan Collins, (R-Maine) who are leading their chamber’s push on same-sex marriage legislation both said they prefer the vote take place separately from the stopgap. The bipartisan group working on the bill is trying to map out floor time in order to pass the legislation through the Senate’s legislative process which could take up to five full days.
For today, the Senate reconvened at 10:00 A.M. and is considering two judicial nominations, Andre B. Mathis to be United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit and Salvador Mendoza, Jr. to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit.
