Congress is expected to punt finishing its appropriations bills until next year at the request of the incoming administration.
Following a closed-door meeting Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin reportedly told members of his conference they are close to striking a spending deal, Politico reports. The party plans to pass a stop-gap measure that will keep the government funded through March 31, giving lawmakers ample time to complete budget negotiations.
Members are set to start working on a continuing resolution shortly, according to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, a Kentucky Republican.
“The bottom line is that we must fulfill our constitutional duty to responsibly fund the federal government, and do right by the taxpayers who have elected us,” Rogers said in a statement. “To this end, my Committee will begin working immediately on a Continuing Resolution (CR) at the current rate of funding to extend the operations of our government through March 31, 2017.”
House Republicans toyed with the idea of passing a series of mini-buses or using the budget as a tool to repeal Obamacare using reconciliation. It was ultimately decided they could strike a better deal by waiting until President-elect Donald Trump takes the White House.
“We must continue to keep our federal agencies and programs open for business, while looking towards future progress on these vital Appropriations bills,” Rogers continued. “While I’m disappointed that the Congress is not going to be able to complete our annual funding work this year, I am extremely hopeful that the new Congress and the new Administration will finish these bills. I am also hopeful for a renewed and vigorous ‘regular order’ on future annual funding bills, so that the damaging process of Continuing Resolutions will no longer be necessary.”
While many are pleased with the decision, a number of Senate Republicans said it will serve as a distraction when they are trying to tackle other issues.
“I think to do anything in the Senate takes a long time,” said Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune told The Washington Post. “It will be a very busy first six months, and if you have to stop and finish last year’s business in the middle of that, it’s challenging.”
Current government funding levels are set to expire on Dec. 9.
Follow Juliegrace Brufke on Twitter
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.