Congress readies stopgap spending bill

WASHINGTON — With the beginning of the new fiscal year just a week away, Democrats controlling Congress are preparing to push through a stopgap spending bill to guarantee against a government shutdown.

The routine measure is needed because Congress has failed to wrap up work on any of the 12 annual spending bills for agency budgets that it passes each year.

Several of the bills, including measures funding the departments of Agriculture, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs are in House-Senate talks and are likely to soon face final votes and be presented to President Barack Obama.

But Republicans are bristling because Democrats are planning to add the monthlong stopgap spending bill to a $4.7 billion measure funding the operations of Congress.

The legislative branch bill is typically one of the easiest to produce, though lawmakers usually don’t like to advance it first since it opens them to accusations that they are taking care of their own budget before passing budgets of crucial Cabinet departments such as the Pentagon.

Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., complained that Democrats were presenting them with an unfair vote by forcing them to either approve the congressional operations budget, which represents a 6 percent increase over current levels, or being cast as voting for a government shutdown if they oppose the combined bill.

Democrats responded that Republicans had used the identical maneuver when controlling Congress three years ago by merging a stopgap funding bill with the Pentagon budget.

The House-Senate negotiating session is slated for Thursday morning, and the combined measure could clear Congress for Obama’s signature by the end of the week.