The prospect of a federal government shutdown inched closer to reality in September as a block of conservative House Republicans sought to condition a fiscal year 2014 appropriations bill upon defunding President Obama’s healthcare reform program.
Republican leaders in the House of Representatives had originally planned to move a short-term continuing resolution (CR) through the chamber earlier in the month. That measure would have extended current funding levels for federal departments and agencies past the beginning of FY14 on October 1 and bought lawmakers more time to agree on a full-year spending plan.
But conservative House Republicans upended this strategy when they refused to support the CR as long as it funded healthcare reform – thus leaving it well short of the votes necessary to pass the House. Instead, on September 20 the House approved a stopgap funding bill (H.J.Res. 59) that would temporarily continue current, sequestration-impacted funding for departments and agencies through December 15 while blocking spending on healthcare reform implementation.
The White House has threatened to veto the bill, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he plans to strip the healthcare provisions from the CR before putting it before the Senate for a vote. The bill would then be sent back to the House with just days to spare before the new fiscal year begins.
If a new spending plan is not enacted before October 1, the federal government will shutdown and only essential federal employees would be told to report to work.