The House of Representatives on September 21 passed a continuing resolution (CR) to extend current levels of funding for federal agencies and programs through December 3, while raising the debt limit through December 2022. The stop-gap funding bill (H.R. 5305), which passed out of the House on a party-line vote of 220-211, will also provide $35 billion in disaster relief and aid to refugees from Afghanistan. The bill is likely to face difficulty passing the Senate due to partisan disagreements on raising the national debt limit.
Sixty votes are required to pass the CR in the Senate and avoid a government shutdown. A provision in the bill to raise the debt limit lacks bipartisan support. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent a letter to congressional leadership, stating that without a debt-limit increase, cash and extraordinary measures will be exhausted by October, and the U.S. government will default for the first time in U.S. history, potentially triggering a financial crisis.
If the bill passes the Senate and is signed by the president, Congress will have until December 3 to authorize appropriations bills for fiscal year 2021, pass another CR, or face a government shutdown.
Read the bill at: https://bit.ly/2XWGnAR
Read a summary of the bill at: https://bit.ly/2XKFdbP
Read a statement from House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) at: https://bit.ly/3zy9R4R