House, Senate overwhelmingly approve one-week extension to CR to keep government open

By Jordana Mishory / April 28, 2017 at 2:06 PM

The House and Senate have overwhelmingly passed a one-week extension to the continuing resolution to keep the government opened as lawmakers continue to debate a spending bill for fiscal year 2017.

The House passed the bill 382 to 30, and the Senate approved the measure by voice vote a short time later. 

On Thursday, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) introduced a short-term continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded through May 5.

"This continuing resolution will continue to keep the government open and operating as normal for the next several days, in order to finalize legislation to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year," Frelinghuysen said in a statement, adding: "I am optimistic that a final funding package will be completed soon. It is time that this essential work is completed so that critical programs and activities -- including national defense -- are properly and adequately funded for the year."

The CR would maintain the current budget cap level of $1.07 trillion put into place under the Budget Control Act of 2011, and continue policy and funding provisions included in currently enacted fiscal year 2016 appropriations legislation, according to Frelinghuysen.

If Congress failed to pass a spending bill as of midnight Friday, the government would have shut down. Last week, the White House Office of Management and Budget sent notices to federal agencies, including the Pentagon, to begin taking precautionary measures in the event of a shutdown.
During the floor debate Friday, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said that while he would vote for the weeklong extension to provide more time to finalize a spending bill, he would not vote for another continuing resolution. He urged his colleagues to pass a bill that would fund the government.

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