After walking away from the bipartisan spending deal, House Republican leadership has so far failed to come up with a new plan to fund the government that can pass before the deadline at midnight tonight.
Last night, the House failed to pass Speaker Johnson’s latest attempt to find a way forward on government funding, a three-month CR that did not include Democratic priorities agreed to in the bipartisan deal earlier this week and would have raised the debt limit until 2027, a last minute demand from President-elect Trump that is unnecessary now since we are not likely to reach the debt limit until next summer.
It is possible the House will vote on several more bills today, but so far reports indicate that House Republicans are only negotiating among themselves and not with Democrats, some of whom they will need to support the bill if they want it to pass and become law.
If Congress can get this done over the weekend there should be minimal impact on employees and agencies, but given the chaos of the past few days and lack of serious negotiations, we should be prepared for a potential shutdown. You can find information, including FAQs, on NTEU's website at https://www.nteu.org/shutdown.
It is ridiculous that we are again in this position, especially before the holidays. Congress needs to do their jobs to ensure the government remains funded and avoid a shutdown.