Plan to avert shutdown would raise defense and non-defense spending by $300bn but doesn’t resolve the immigration reform issue

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Congressional leaders were rushing on Thursday to pass a far-reaching, bipartisan budget deal that would raise federal spending levels for the next two years as lawmakers run up against yet another midnight deadline to avoid a government shutdown.

As Congress worked to find the votes amid a last-minute objection from a conservative senator, the White House reportedly urged agencies to prepare for a lapse in spending after midnight.

But the deal that leaders have hailed as a “significant bipartisan achievement”, faced mounting opposition from staunch Republican conservatives and from Democrats who are frustrated that the measure does not address immigration reform.

The Senate was expected to pass the measure with strong support from Democrats and Republicans before sending the bill to the House, where its fate was less certain.

However, an objection from Republican Rand Paul, of Kentucky, seemed poised to push a vote into Friday and create the possibility of a brief late-night shutdown.

Quick guide All you need to know about a US government shutdown Show Hide What is a government shutdown? When the US Congress fails to pass appropriate funding for government operations and agencies, a shutdown is triggered. Most government services are frozen, barring those that are deemed “essential”, such as the work of the Department of Homeland Security and FBI. During this shutdown, around 25% of the government workforce is placed on unpaid furlough and told not to work. Workers deemed essential, such as active duty military personnel, are not furloughed. Why might the government shut down? The president and members of Congress are at an impasse over what should be included in a spending bill to keep the government open. How common is a shutdown? There have been more than a dozen government shutdowns in the US since 1981, although ranging in duration. The longest occurred under Bill Clinton, lasting a total of 21 days from December 1995 to January 1996, when the then House speaker, Newt Gingrich, demanded sharp cuts to government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and welfare.

This shutdown is on course to be the longest in US history. What would be the cost of a shutdown? A government shutdown would cost the US roughly $6.5bn a week, according to a report by S&P Global analysts. “A disruption in government spending means no government paychecks to spend; lost business and revenue to private contractors; lost sales at retail shops, particularly those that circle now-closed national parks; and less tax revenue for Uncle Sam,” the report stated. “That means less economic activity and fewer jobs.” Hundreds of thousands of people are not receiving regular paychecks in this shutdown. In previous shutdowns, furloughed employees have been paid retrospectively – but those payments have often been delayed. Sabrina Siddiqui Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images North America

Paul is pushing for a vote on an amendment to restore budget caps to limit spending. Under Senate rules, his opposition to advancing to debate would push a vote to 1am Friday morning, an hour after funding for the government is set to expire.

In an interview with Fox News, Paul complained about the deficit spending in the proposed deal. “I’m not advocating for shutting down the government,” said Paul. “I’m also not advocating for keeping the damn thing open and borrowing a million dollars a minute. This is reckless spending that is out of control.”

The plan agreed to by Republicans and Democrats would raise defense and non-defense spending by $300bn and provide billions of additional dollars in disaster relief funding for areas ravaged by wildfires and hurricanes last year. It would also lift the federal debt limit until March 2019, allowing the government to take on new debt for the next year.

Nancy Pelosi's eight-hour speech: an attempt to persuade GOP on immigration Read more

Perhaps most urgently, the measure would fund the government for another six weeks, through 23 March, while lawmakers draft the long-term spending bill that would run through the rest of the fiscal year. Funding for the federal government expires at midnight on Thursday.

But the deal does not resolve the divisive issue of immigration reform, which has bedeviled lawmakers for decades. Democrats sought to bind the issue of immigration to budget negotiations as a way of exerting leverage over Republicans and forcing a vote on legislation that would protect young undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children. But Republicans have maintained that the negotiations should proceed separately.



The Senate Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell, unveiled the budget accord, which stretches more than 650 pages, on Wednesday.

In a floor speech on Thursday, McConnell said: “This is our best chance to begin rebuilding our military and make progress on issues directly affecting the American people.”

Play Video 2:56 I'm a Dreamer: here is what's happening – video explainer

The Senate appeared to have enough votes to pass the budget bill – and little appetite for a shutdown, after a failure to reach an agreement last month led to a brief, three-day shutdown of the federal government.

Senate Democrats relented and allowed the government to reopen only after extracting a promise from McConnell that he would allow a debate on legislation to protect the Dreamers, young people whose protections from deportations Trump put into jeopardy when he rescinded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca).

But the calculus is less certain in the House, where opposition to a budget deal runs across the political spectrum.

Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, said she would not support the measure without a firm commitment from the speaker, Paul Ryan, to allow an open debate on immigration reform. She said she hoped Ryan would “man up” and make the same pledge McConnell made to Senate Democrats.

Pelosi spent a record eight hours speaking on the House floor on Wednesday in an attempt to persuade Republicans to allow a vote on immigration legislation.

Tearful Omarosa fears US 'won't be OK' under Trump Read more

Hours later, the House Democratic leadership sent a notice to members urging them to vote against the budget measure, according to a Democratic aide. That notice was then followed by a note from Pelosi that outlined her opposition to the bill but stopped short of directing members how to vote.

The advisories created confusion among House Democrats, and by mid-afternoon a meeting was scheduled to discuss the budget deal.

Members left that meeting as they entered it: deeply divided over how to move forward.

During the extended afternoon meeting, Democratic leaders entreated members to vote against the budget deal that Pelosi helped negotiate, according to several lawmakers. They said Pelosi made a moral case for opposing the legislation but members who planned to vote for the measure said they felt no pressure to reconsider.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Democratic House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, in the US Capitol on 8 February. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Congressman John Yarmuth, a Democrat from Kentucky, who plans to vote for the measure, said the conversation was “collegial”, with Pelosi ultimately telling members to “vote the way you have to vote”. The opposition, he said, centered squarely around the issue of Daca.



“There was almost no resistance to the actual budget deal,” he said.

“I’m pleased with the product,” Pelosi said of the deal. “I’m not pleased with the process.” But asked if she would pressure her caucus to oppose the bill, she said: “I’m just telling people why I’m voting the way I’m voting.”

Ryan, meanwhile, was still wrangling support from his caucus in the House as the clock ticked toward a midnight deadline.



Dozens of House Republicans are expected to oppose the legislation because of its impact on the federal debt and the increase in spending on domestic programs. Ryan nevertheless expressed confidence that the House would gather enough votes to pass the two-year spending bill.

He also said he would commit to bring immigration legislation the president would sign to the floor. He added that Congress must pass the budget so that lawmakers could turn to immigration, which must be resolved by next month.

“To anyone who doubts my intention to solve this problem and bring up a Daca and immigration reform bill, do not,” Ryan said.

But Democrats in the House were not satisfied with Ryan’s assurances, and by Thursday evening their ranks appeared to be growing.

Luis Gutiérrez, the Democratic congressman from Illinois who is fiercely opposed to a budget deal without a commitment on immigration, said if the bill passes, “all the leverage is gone” to push for a Daca fix.

“If you vote for this budget you have just opened up a pathway for deportation,” he said.