US Senate aims for quick vote to avoid shutdown, but possible potholes ahead

By David Morgan and Katharine Jackson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democratic and Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate said on Wednesday they would try to quickly pass legislation to keep the government funded, preventing a partial shutdown form beginning this weekend.

“No drama, no delay, no government shutdown. That’s our goal and we hope to have an agreement very soon,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said on the Senate floor.

Leaders from both parties have said they support a stopgap spending bill that passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives by a wide bipartisan margin on Tuesday.

Current funding is due to expire at midnight on Friday (0500 GMT on Saturday), and both chambers of Congress need to pass spending legislation and send it to Democratic President Joe Biden to sign into law before then to avoid disruption.

Senator John Thune, the chamber’s No. 2 Republican, said a vote on the House bill later in the day was possible. “Right now we’re not seeing anything out there that would suggest that we couldn’t process this fairly quickly,” he said.

But opponents could invoke the Senate’s arcane rules to complicate a vote before midnight on Friday when current funding will expire. Republican Senator Rand Paul, who in the past has used parliamentary maneuvers to hold up action, said on social media that he would push for deeper spending cuts.

The House bill would extend government funding at current levels through mid-January, giving lawmakers more time to work on the detailed spending bills that fund everything from the military to scientific research.

More significantly, it would avoid a partial shutdown that would disrupt a wide array of government services and furlough hundreds of thousands of federal workers.

Tuesday’s vote was a victory for House Speaker Mike Johnson, who faced down opposition from some of his fellow Republicans who had pushed for deep spending cuts.

Johnson was a little-known Louisiana lawmaker until he was elected speaker on Oct. 25 following weeks of Republican infighting.

The legislation would extend funding for military construction, veterans benefits, transportation, housing, urban development, agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and energy and water programs through Jan. 19. Funding for all other federal operations – including defense – would expire on Feb. 2.