Schumer: Government funding resolution agreement with McCarthy is ‘good sign’
2023.08.16 09:15
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), with Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), holds a press conference after the weekly Democratic caucus policy luncheon at the U.S. Capito
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday said he met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy a few weeks ago and agreed to a resolution that could extend current federal government spending for a few months.
“We agreed we should do a CR … where you just extend the existing funding for a few months so we could work this out, and I thought that was a good sign,” the chamber’s top Democrat told MSNBC, referring to a temporary spending measure known as a continuing resolution.
Current government funding is due to expire Sept. 30 with the fiscal year beginning Oct 1, and no action to fund the federal government could trigger a shutdown.
Any spending measures would have to pass both the Democratic-led Senate and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Schumer warned against McCarthy, a Republican, following hardline members of his party who may be pushing for a shutdown over Ukraine funding and other issues, and noted that there is bipartisan support in the Senate to pass regular appropriations bills to fund the U.S. government.
