U.S. President Joe Biden (r.) shakes hands with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson as they attend the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation's annual event at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on February 1, 2024.
Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images
The Biden administration announced its support for the latest short-term government funding proposal on Tuesday, significantly reducing the likelihood of a partial shutdown before the November 5 presidential election.
In a statement from the Office of Management and Budget, the White House praised the bill because it gives Congress “more time to finalize full-year funding legislation later this year that will benefit America's defense, veterans, seniors, children, and working families, and address the most pressing needs of the American people, including those in communities recovering from disasters.”
The statement was far from an unqualified endorsement of the proposal by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana. The statement criticized congressional Republicans for failing to provide additional funding for disaster relief, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Small Business Administration.
“The administration is deeply disappointed that Republicans in Congress continue to block critical funding that the administration has requested to avoid severe disruptions to several critical government services, including the effective termination of the Small Business Administration's disaster loan program in the fall,” it said.
The White House also warned that it would oppose any cuts to funding for the IRS in the final budget bill.
The bill – which Johnson introduced on Sunday after his original proposal failed in the Republican-dominated House of Representatives earlier this month – would fund the government through Dec. 20, not March 2025. It does not include any part of the SAVE Act, a controversial voter ID bill.
President Joe Biden and many Democrats in Congress strongly opposed plans to include the SAVE Act in the administration's appropriations bill, but it was Johnson's own caucus members who killed his original funding proposal when 14 Republicans in the House voted against it on September 18.
The new proposal appears to contradict the wishes of former President Donald Trump, who publicly called on Republicans in Congress to shut down the government if the SAVE Act were removed from the funding bill.
The latest bill provides $231 million for the Secret Service, whose funding and resources have been in the spotlight following two assassination attempts against Trump.
Congress and the White House have until midnight on September 30 to pass the bill and sign it into law, avoiding a partial government shutdown that would have occurred a good month before Election Day.
House Republican staff said Sunday that the funding proposal could be presented to the House for a vote as early as Wednesday.
“The administration calls for swift passage of this legislation in both houses of Congress to avoid a costly, unnecessary government shutdown and to ensure sufficient time to pass the full fiscal year 2025 appropriations legislation this year,” the White House statement said.
Comments are closed.