Something close to a holiday miracle is cooking in Washington: It now appears a question of when, not if, the Senate will pass Speaker Mike Johnson’s “two-step” short-term government spending patch.
No Senate votes are scheduled yet on the measure, but with Thanksgiving looming — and the vibes very much off on Capitol Hill — it wouldn’t surprising if jet fumes move the process along.
“I’m happy the House passed this bill that excludes hard-right partisan cuts and poison pills with a strong bipartisan vote. I’ll now work with Leader McConnell to pass this bipartisan extension of funding as soon as possible,” Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement following House passage Tuesday.
McConnell, by the way, also endorsed the legislation on Tuesday: “It’s nice to see us working together to prevent a government shutdown.”
While we wait: Senators are expected to vote on a disapproval resolution this afternoon from Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on President Joe Biden’s latest student loan repayment plan.
Over in the House: Lawmakers will continue work on two spending titles — the Labor-HHS-Education funding bill and the Commerce-Justice-Science measure.
More fireworks on the horizon? The House Homeland Security Committee meets at 9 a.m. to hear from FBI Director Christopher Wray and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for a hearing on threats to the homeland. That comes just a couple days after the House narrowly punted an effort to impeach Mayorkas.
