Today House Democrats released a continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the federal government at FY 2020 levels when the FY2020 appropriations bills expire on September 30. The CR funds the federal government through December 11, 2020.
Under a CR, agencies are not allowed to initiate or resume any project or activity for which appropriations, funds, or other authority were not available in FY2020 (translation: no new starts under a CR).
The CR also includes, among other things, the following:
- Additional funding for Presidential Inauguration activities, transition activities, transition archival activities, and transition office space
- One-Year extension of the highway authorization at FY2020 levels
- Authorization of the National Flood Insurance Program through September 30, 2021
- One-Year reauthorization of the Appalachian Regional Commission
- Extensions of funding and authorizations for public health programs
- Medicare and Medicaid funding and authorization extenders
- Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act
- United State Parole Commission Extension Act
- Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Permanent Extension Act
- Department of Veterans Affairs Expiring Authorities Act
The CR does not include the $30B in farm aid that the administration was seeking to replenish funding for the U.S. Dept of Agriculture’s Commodity Credit Corp. President Trump had announced $13B in new aid to farmers at a rally in Wisconsin on Thursday. Democrats had considered including the additional farm funding in the CR in exchange for $2B in child nutrition funding, but then canceled the tradeoff. Both programs are not funded in the CR.
The House will vote on the CR this week and then it will go to the Senate to act before September 30. Senate Republicans could potentially reject the measure, so a federal government shutdown is not out of the picture. However, support staff for Congress are affected during a shutdown. Those deemed non-essential would be furloughed. If the Senate wants to confirm a Supreme Court Justice, they are likely to want to avoid a shutdown.
Continuing Resolution Bill Text
https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/BILLS-116HR8319IH.pdf
Continuing Resolution Summary