House passes two-week CR as shutdown approaches

By Tony Bertuca / December 7, 2017 at 5:11 PM

The House, with a vote of 235-192, passed a two-week extension to a stopgap continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown Friday. The measure now moves to the Senate.

Most Democrats voted against the CR because it did not contain language to support safeguards for those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, among other items.

Meanwhile, President Trump met with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) at the White House on Thursday afternoon to discuss a broader budget deal to raise defense and non-defense spending caps mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act.

It remains unclear if the Senate will pass the House version of the CR or author its own, which would need to be reconciled in a conference committee.

Senior Defense Department officials said Thursday they were preparing for the shutdown, warning it would halt pay for U.S. soldiers in combat, damage military readiness and disrupt key defense contracts.

"I cannot emphasize too much how destructive a shutdown is," Pentagon Comptroller David Norquist told reporters Thursday.

"No one gets paid," he continued. "The disruption of this ripples through the organization."

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