Congressional leaders reach deal on revenue portion of social program.
The White House states that government agencies may face a shutdown if a stopgap bill is not signed into law by September 30.
“We are taking every step we can to mitigate the impacts of a potential shutdown,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing. There is not yet any formal guidance, but it’s “just a reminder we’re seven days out and we need to be prepared, of course, in any event of any contingency, so we see this as a routine step and one just to be prepared in any event of what could happen,” she said.
Congressional leaders are working to pass a series of major bills before October, including the extension of the debt limit to avert a default. They want to pass the infrastructure bill and the multi-trillion-dollar package of social spending and tax priorities.
Earlier on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, and the White House reached a deal on a framework for the revenue portion of their “social safety net bill,” a major step to getting to a final agreement before the end of September.
“We have a consensus overwhelmingly, maybe 10 to 1, 20 to 1 within our caucus as to these priorities, but we wanted to make sure it was paid for,” said the Speaker.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he is going to vote against the reconciliation bill and will encourage others to do the same. “I don’t view it as a bipartisan bill any longer,” he said. “I’m voting no.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For members of Congress as they prepare to vote on the massive spending packages in the days ahead.
- For government agencies who are preparing for the possible government shutdown.
- For wisdom for government officials considering an increase to the nation’s debt ceiling.
Sources: Reuters, NBC News
