Congress prepares to vote on short-term funding bill to avert US government shutdown live updates

"According to Politico, House GOP whip Tom Emmer was confident, as of Thursday, that his party had enough votes. We're going to pass this, he said in an interview. A reminder, Republicans only have a very thin majority in the lower chamber, and have already heard push back from some members on certain provisions in the bill. Democrats have, almost unanimously, said they're bucking the CR as is, taking issue with its lack of health care provisions."

"Democrats in the lower chamber also released their own legislation that would keep the government funded until the end of October. For their part, GOP lawmakers only need a simple majority for their CR to advance to the Senate, where Democrats can use the filibuster to tank it if it lacks 60 votes. However, that requires Schumer to ensure that moderate members of his party don't end up voting for the legislation if the threat of a shutdown inches closer."

"This is the problem the top Democrat faced the last time this happened, back in March, when Schumer ended up voting for the Republican-written bill that kept federal agencies funded. At the time, Schumer faced immense pressure from his Democratic colleagues in the House to push back, but ultimately believed a shutdown would carry consequences for America that are much, much worse."

House lawmakers will vote on a Republican continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through November 21 to avert a shutdown at the end of September. House GOP whip Tom Emmer said Republicans were confident they had enough votes despite a very thin majority and internal pushback on some provisions. Democrats almost unanimously oppose the CR over its lack of health care provisions and offered their own bill to fund the government through the end of October. If the CR passes the House, the Senate could block it with a filibuster requiring 60 votes. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer faces pressure to prevent moderate Democrats from voting for the measure, as he did in March.

Read at www.theguardian.com