Congressional leaders released the final four measures to fund the government Tuesday, as lawmakers race to avoid yet another government shutdown at the end of the month. Congress has until January 30th to fund the remaining government agencies and programs, after approving a three-bill funding package as part of the effort to end the longest government shutdown in history in November, while the majority of government funding was extended on a temporary basis. Since then, the House and Senate approved another three-bill funding package, and last week, the House approved two more funding measures, which the Senate is expected to take up upon its return to Washington next week after its recess. House and Senate appropriators released the text of the final package of four bills, known as a “minibus,” Tuesday which would provide funding related to the departments of Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Homeland Security. The House had dropped plans to include the Homeland Security Department appropriations last week following the deadly shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis. Democrats had threatened to withhold their support for the funding if it did not include ICE reforms and today, the top House Democrats are lining up to oppose legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), largely to protest the financing of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in blue regions around the country. During a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic Caucus in the basement of the Capitol on Wednesday, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) and Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Massachusetts), the Democratic whip, announced that they would vote against the DHS bill when it hits the floor on Thursday. The opposition is not expected to sink the bill, even if most Democrats vote against it, there are likely to be enough centrist lawmakers who cross the aisle and side with the majority of Republicans to get it across the finish line.
For today, the House will consider pursuant to a Rule H.R. 6945 – Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act and H.J. Res. 140 – Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Public Land Order No. 7917 for Withdrawal of Federal Lands; Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, MN.
The Senate remains in recess and will next convene at 3:00 P.M. on Monday, January 26th.
