Government Shutdown Looms.
Congress must pass a continuing resolution before midnight today to extend the now-expired Farm Bill and avoid a government shutdown. The clock is ticking.
NOTE—This is a brief update for readers of The Cocklebur on Congressional inaction to pass a federal budget or Farm Bill. If Congress is unable to pass an extension of both the budget and Farm Bill by midnight tonight, the government will partially shut down and the current Farm Bill expiration will continue. Both have serious implications for rural America (Read more about that HERE). We’ll send an update and analysis when we have more information.
—Bryce, The Cocklebur
Nearly all House Democrats joined with 38 ultra-conservative Republicans yesterday to defeat a plan by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) and President-elect Donald Trump that would have extended the current budget through March 2025. Trump endorsed the bill after killing a bipartisan deal earlier in the week.
The Johnson-Trump proposal included a Farm Bill extension, but also a two-year suspension of the debt ceiling. Their bill also removed numerous Democratic provisions included in the bipartisan budget bill: consumer protections against predatory fees, reductions in prices for certain prescription drugs, funding for children’s cancer research, and funding for community health centers.
House Democrats opposed the bill, calling for a return to the previous bipartisan version that has also been cleared by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Many Senate Republicans are also supportive of the bipartisan bill. House Democrats have significant leverage, as their votes are required by Speaker Johnson to overcome pro-shutdown members in his own party.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a speech on the floor explaining Democratic opposition:
“House Democrats, House Republicans, Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans reached a bipartisan agreement to fund the government, prevent a shutdown and meet the needs of the American people. We reached a bipartisan agreement to provide disaster assistance to people who had their lives turned upside down by extreme weather events hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and wildfires all across America. We reached a bipartisan agreement to be there for farmers and families, children, seniors, working-class Americans all across the country, the men and women who serve this country in uniform and our veterans.”
Democrats also criticized Johnson and Trump’s inclusion of a two-year debt ceiling pause in the bill. Trump was seeking the pause in order pay for the pending Republican tax cut plan.
Their will be a partial government shutdown and continued Farm Bill expiration if Congress fails to pass extensions by midnight tonight.
The Cocklebur covers rural policy and politics from a progressive point-of-view. Our work focuses on a tangled rural political reality of dishonest debate, economic and racial disparities, corporate power over our democracy, and disinformation peddled by conservative media outlets. We aim to use facts, data, and science to inform our point-of-view. We wear our complicated love/WTF relationship with rural America on our sleeve.