Appropriators have their work cut out for them as Congress reconvenes this week, having less than a month to fund the government long-term by Jan. 30.
Lawmakers made little-to-no headway toward passing the nine remaining agency funding bills in December after coming out of the longest government shutdown in history. They’re now racing to avoid a stopgap, or worse, another shutdown.
House and Senate appropriators know the calendar is against them — the House is out of session the last week of January — and acknowledge the need for urgency, but there’s disagreement between the chambers on their next steps. ...