On deadline, Senate works to avoid gov’t shutdown
WASHINGTON — Up against a midnight deadline to avoid a government shutdown, the Senate raced to pass legislation Wednesday that temporarily would extend spending on most federal programs at current levels while raising Congress’ budget by 6 percent.
A vote on the measure to keep the government for one more month was set for late afternoon. It was expected to win easy approval, with President Barack Obama virtually certain to sign it before day’s end.
The legislation also would patch over problems in the struggling postal service and pay for soon-to-expire highway programs for an additional month as well. The stopgap measure is needed because Congress has failed to complete work on any of the 12 annual spending bills for agency budgets.
The community activist group ACORN was in line for another hit as Democrats added language saying the organization could not receive federal dollars under the stopgap measure or any prior legislation.
ACORN, short for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, has come under fire over a set of videotapes made by conservative activists that show employees offering advice about how to establish a brothel with underage prostitutes.
The underlying legislation is a $4.7 billion measure covering Congress’ budget for the fiscal year beginning Thursday. That spending bill was chosen because it can’t be amended before going to Obama, which saves time and spares Democrats potentially difficult votes.
It’s not unusual for Congress to tack such stopgap bills onto other spending measures to speed them along. But by choosing the legislative branch bill to be the first measure presented to the president, majority Democrats opened themselves to GOP criticism that they were putting their own budget ahead of agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., took aim at $500,000 included to notify constituents about town hall meetings, even though people packed such events in August.
“Has anybody had any trouble lately having people come to their town hall meetings,” McCain said. “We need to spend $500,000 additional to notify people?”
Congress was rewarding itself with a 6 percent budget boost, though the $51 million increase for the House office budget account represents an 8 percent increase. There’s also a big jump in spending to repair House office buildings, including a $50 million refurbishing of the oldest one.
The Senate rewarded itself with a 6 percent boost for its office accounts.
The Postal Service could delay $4 billion in payments due next month to a health care fund for retirees. Some $5.4 billion is supposed to be paid, but officials say they don’t have enough money to make the payment.
The measure also would extend the federal highway program for one month. Congress is working on a three-month extension.
The stopgap legislation would extend funding for the operating budgets of Cabinet departments and other agencies at current levels through Oct. 31. Exceptions would be made for the Census Bureau, which gets a big infusion to prepare for next year’s count, and veterans’ medical programs, both of which would operate at increases.
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