In addition to House Democratic leadership elections and continued work on legislation to spur medical innovation, Congress returns from the Thanksgiving recess this week to finalize a package to fund the government through at least early spring.
With the current continuing resolution (CR) set to expire December 9, House Republicans intend to pass a short-term CR to fund the federal government at current levels through the end of March. Senate Republican leadership has not formally signed off on a shorter-term spending bill, although there have been signals that the upper chamber’s majority is open to the approach.
However, some Republican senators have expressed concern over a short-term bill with concerns over clogging the schedule in the early spring with likely priorities from the incoming Trump Administration on deck.
Senate Democrats and the White House have publicly stated that they would prefer a long-term omnibus bill that keeps the government funded through September 30, 2017, the remainder of the fiscal year, but Democrats have not indicated that they would block a short-term measure.
Source: The Hill
