With the end of the fiscal year fast approaching, Congress has been working to send several appropriations bills to the White House.
Both chambers are aiming to pass appropriations bills in small groups, each called a “minibus,” ahead of the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year, after President Trump expressed displeasure in March at signing an omnibus appropriations bill (consisting of all 12, delayed fiscal 2018 bills) and said that he would never do that again.
The House passed six of its 12 appropriations bills before leaving for a five-week recess. When representatives return in September, they will have just 11 planned legislative days left before funding runs out.
Senators have passed three spending bills and are scheduled to wrap up four more this week as they continue to work through most of August. However, there are significant disagreements between the House and Senate bills that will need to be resolved. Unless Congress passes a funding measure or continuing resolution (CR) by Sept. 30, and the president signs it, there would be a government shutdown.
While passage of a CR has been relatively routine in previous years, the fall funding situation remains uncertain and is further complicated by the president’s tweet and comments this week threatening a shutdown. Nevertheless, it is widely speculated that final agreement on all fiscal 2019 spending bills won’t happen until after the midterm election, and some kind of short-term funding measure will be needed for the start of fiscal 2019.
NTEU will continue to work with lawmakers to avoid a government shutdown, and secure adequate funding and a pay increase. In the event of a shutdown, NTEU will fight to ensure that all federal workers receive their paychecks on time, as we have done in the past.