Shutdown risk eases as Senate pushes toward funding vote

By KEVIN FREKING and LISA MASCARO

WASHINGTON (AP) — The hazard of a short-term authorities shutdown appeared to beryllium easing precocious Thursday arsenic the Senate pushed toward last support of a measure that would money the authorities done Feb. 18, sending the measurement to President Joe Biden for his signature.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters it was “looking good” that senators would walk the measure and “make definite the authorities stays open.”

The measurement has been held up for days, and it was not instantly wide however the Senate would resoluteness a standoff with immoderate blimpish Republicans who threatened to stall the measure successful hopes of forcing a statement implicit Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Some GOP senators said they would not enactment an expedited ballot connected the spending measurement without besides taking up a ballot that would forestall backing for enforcement of a vaccine mandate for ample employers.

But a ballot was expected aboriginal Thursday.

The backing statement among legislature leaders announced earlier successful the time would support the authorities moving for 11 much weeks, mostly astatine existent spending levels, portion adding $7 cardinal to assistance Afghanistan evacuees.

The Democratic-led House passed the measurement Thursday by a 221-212 vote. The Republican enactment urged members to ballot no; the lone GOP ballot for the measure came from Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger.

In the House, lawmakers bemoaned the short-term hole and blamed the opposing enactment for the deficiency of advancement connected this year’s spending bills. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, seat of the House Appropriations Committee, said the measurement would, however, let for negotiations connected a bundle covering the afloat fund twelvemonth done September.

“Make nary mistake, a ballot against this continuing solution is simply a ballot to unopen authorities down,” DeLauro said during the House debate.

Before the House acted, Biden said helium had spoken with Senate leaders and helium played down fears of a shutdown.

“There is simply a program successful spot unless idiosyncratic decides to beryllium wholly erratic, and I don’t deliberation that volition happen,” Biden said.

The House ballot sent the measurement to the Senate. Conservative Republicans opposed to Biden’s vaccine rules privation Congress to instrumentality a hard basal against the mandated shots for workers astatine larger businesses, adjacent if that means shutting down national offices implicit the play by blocking a petition that would expedite a last ballot connected the spending bill.

It was conscionable the latest lawsuit of the brinkmanship astir authorities backing that has triggered respective costly shutdowns and partial closures implicit the past 2 decades. The longest shutdown successful past happened nether President Donald Trump — 35 days stretching into January 2019, erstwhile Democrats refused to o.k. wealth for his U.S-Mexico borderline wall. Both parties hold the stoppages are irresponsible, yet fewer deadlines walk without a precocious scramble to debar them.

House Republicans said during the statement that they had made it wide successful the summertime that they would not enactment spending bills that see “irresponsible spending increases and utmost policies.”

“Unfortunately, that is precisely wherever we find ourselves,” said Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas.

But Democrats accused Republicans of rooting for shutdown, citing the remarks of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who said astatine 1 constituent successful the debate: “Do not walk the CR. Shut it down.”

Democrats were capable to usage their bulk to beforehand the spending bill. They person a much hard task successful the 50-50 Senate, wherever objections by conscionable 1 legislator tin dilatory a last ballot past Friday’s midnight deadline.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said Democrats knew past period that respective Republicans would usage each means astatine their disposal to reason authorities that funds oregon allows the enforcement of the leader vaccine mandate. He blamed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for not negotiating and for ignoring their position.

If the prime is betwixt “suspending nonessential functions” oregon lasting idle portion Americans suffer their quality to work, “I’ll basal with American workers each time,” Lee said.

GOP senators said the thought is to ballot connected stripping wealth that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration would usage to instrumentality the request that backstage employers with 100 oregon much workers guarantee they are vaccinated oregon regularly tested.

“This is simply a accidental to close a wrong,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who undertook a akin effort against vaccine mandates during the past authorities backing standoff.

Schumer said aboriginal Thursday it was “not casual to scope this deal” and portion astir Republicans bash not privation a shutdown, a “few idiosyncratic Republican senators look determined to derail this important authorities due to the fact that of their absorption to the president’s lifesaving vaccine guidelines.”

“Let’s beryllium clear, if determination is simply a shutdown, it volition beryllium a Republican, anti-vaccine shutdown,” Schumer said.

The White House sees the vaccinations arsenic the quickest mode to extremity a pandemic that has killed much than 780,000 radical successful the United States and is inactive evolving, arsenic seen Wednesday with the country’s archetypal detected lawsuit of a troubling caller variant.

Courts person knocked backmost against the mandates, including a ruling this week blocking enforcement of a request for immoderate wellness attraction workers.

For immoderate Republicans, the tribunal cases and lawmakers’ fears astir a perchance disruptive shutdown are factors against engaging successful a high-stakes shutdown.

“One of the things I’m a small acrophobic astir is: Why would we marque ourselves the entity of nationalist attraction by creating the specter of a authorities shutdown?” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a GOP leader.

“There’s excessively overmuch chaos successful our state close now, excessively overmuch interest astir omicron. The past happening we request is much disorder and fear,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., reiterated that determination volition beryllium nary shutdown.

“We’re not going to bash that,” helium said Thursday.

The medication has pursued vaccine requirements for respective groups of workers, but the effort is facing ineligible setbacks.

A national justice this week blocked the medication from enforcing a vaccine mandate connected thousands of wellness attraction workers successful 10 states. Earlier, a national appeals tribunal temporarily halted the OSHA request affecting employers with 100 oregon much workers.

The medication has besides enactment successful spot policies requiring millions of national employees and national contractors, including subject troops, to beryllium afloat vaccinated. Those efforts are besides nether challenge.

Polling from The Associated Press shows Americans are divided implicit Biden’s effort to vaccinate workers, with Democrats overwhelmingly for it portion astir Republicans are against.

Some Republicans similar an effort from Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., to ballot to cull the administration’s mandates successful a legislature reappraisal enactment expected adjacent week, abstracted from the backing fight.

Separately, immoderate wellness attraction providers protested the stopgap spending measure. Hospitals accidental it does thing to shield them from Medicare outgo cuts scheduled to spell into effect amid uncertainty astir the caller omicron variant.

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Associated Press unit writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.