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The U.S. Senate is poised to vote on Thursday night to fund the government through mid-February, removing the risk of a partial shutdown, Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters.
That vote would come hours after the House of Representatives voted 221-212 to approve the stopgap funding bill, which runs through Feb. 18. Only one Republican supported the measure.
“It is looking good that we are going to pass the CR tonight and make sure the government stays open,” Schumer said on Thursday.
He did not mention a proposal by a small group of hardline Republican senators to defund President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for workers. It was not clear those Republicans had the votes to pass their proposal in the narrowly Democratic-controlled chamber.
Republican Senators Mike Lee, Ted Cruz and Roger Marshall had earlier raised the possibility that the government could partially shut down over the weekend while the Senate moves slowly toward eventual passage.
Democrats hold 50 seats in the 100-seat Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris able to vote as a tiebreaker.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who must quell the rebellion within his caucus to keep the government operating, reiterated earlier on Thursday that there would be no shutdown.
But he did not respond when asked whether Republicans would agree to move quickly by consenting to circumvent the Senate’s cumbersome legislative rules.
“We need to pass it and that’s what we’ll be working toward doing,” the top Senate Republican told reporters.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, blasted the Republican move, saying it demonstrated “irresponsibility” that Congress would reject.
The temporary spending bill would maintain funding of federal government operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, amid concerns about a new rise in cases…
Source : france24
