C-Suite Wednesday – Congress Introduces New Continuing Resolution to Avoid Government Shutdown

November 20, 2019

By Caity Witucki
Contributing Editor, C-Suite Wednesday

C-Suite Wednesday – Congress Introduces New Continuing Resolution to Avoid Government Shutdown

On September 27, 2019, President Donald Trump signed a seven-week continuing resolution bill which ensured that the SBA would remain open through November 21, 2019. With the deadline on the horizon, House lawmakers have introduced a temporary funding measure to avoid another government shutdown. The new continuing resolution bill extends government funding through December 20, 2019. The House hopes to move the new continuing resolution bill to the Senate and then to the President’s desk before federal agencies run out of money at midnight on Thursday.

“With a government shutdown deadline just days away, this continuing resolution is necessary to keep the government open as we work towards completing the appropriations process,” says House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman, Nita Lowey. “I look forward to passing this legislation and getting it signed into law.”

Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, has indicated that the Senate will move quickly to pass the new continuing resolution to the President. However, Rand Paul could hold up the measure as he has indicated his disapproval of continuing resolutions in the past. In 2018, Paul called a continuing resolution “a terrible, rotten, no-good way to run your government.”

Although the President has wavered in the past on whether he would sign a spending bill into law, the White House has indicated that Trump is willing and ready to sign a clean continuing resolution through December 20th. Mike Simpson, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said the continuing resolution should win Trump’s support. “Of course I think shutdowns are always a bad idea,” says Simpson. “But it would be a bad idea for the president to not accept this. It’s just a straight CR until the 20th.”

If the continuing resolution passes, lawmakers will have more time to negotiate allocations. However, congress is only formally scheduled to be in session an additional two weeks after the Thanksgiving break. As a result, some have suggested another continuing resolution may be necessary before full funding is passed.