Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Wednesday that the Senate will vote on Thursday morning on a temporary budget bill to prevent funding from being cut off for the federal government, which would lead to a shutdown starting Friday. Schumer stated, "We will vote tomorrow morning" before adjourning the session.
Once passed in the Senate, the bill will be sent to the House of Representatives, which is also controlled by the Democrats, for approval before being forwarded to President Joe Biden for signing into law before midnight and the end of the current fiscal year.
If this law is not passed before the start of the new fiscal year at the very first minute of Friday, funding for the federal government will be cut off, putting many of its agencies in "shutdown," which would result in partial unemployment for hundreds of thousands of employees.
Broad support for the bill exists among Republicans, as it would extend the current budget until December 3 and includes assistance for states affected by natural disasters as well as funds to help Afghan refugees settle in the United States. During the session, Schumer emphasized that "the last thing Americans need right now is a government shutdown."
On Monday, Republicans obstructed the approval of a previous version of this bill in the Senate because their Democratic opponents included a provision to suspend the U.S. debt ceiling until December 2022. According to customary procedures in the Capitol, both parties must agree on any measure related to raising the U.S. national debt (currently at $28.8 trillion). However, Republicans have this time refused to approve this measure as they want to hold their Democratic opponents solely responsible for this "irresponsible" spending.
On Tuesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen indicated that her department may exhaust its means to continue funding the government by October 18, if Congress does not raise the federal borrowing limit.
