Democrats in Congress are working on a spending package for fiscal year 2023 and considering a one-week extension to a stopgap measure that is set to expire on Dec. 16, to avoid a government shutdown and give Congress more time to reach an agreement on an omnibus funding bill, Government Executive reported Tuesday.
In September, President Joe Biden signed into law a continuing resolution to keep government operations funded at current spending levels until mid-December.
According to a Senate aide, lawmakers from the majority party are drafting bills that would incorporate bipartisan priorities to facilitate the passage of the omnibus measure in both chambers.
Lloyd Austin, secretary of the Department of Defense and a two-time Wash100 awardee, urged congressional leaders through a letter to work on a full-year appropriations legislation before the end of the year.
“Failure to do so will result in significant harm to our people and our programs and would cause harm to our national security and our competitiveness,” Austin wrote in the letter that was first reported by Politico.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and three other congressional leaders had a meeting with Biden at the White House on Tuesday to discuss government funding and other legislative priorities.
“We hope it can be done this year, and we know each side is going to have to give in order to send an omnibus to the president’s desk,” Schumer said of the full-year funding package.