Obama Inks Funding Stopgap, Negotiations to Continue Over Coming Weeks
President Barack Obama signed into law on Sept. 30 a “clean” continuing resolution, an amendment to HR-719 (here), only hours before federal government funding was set to lapse on Sept. 30 at midnight. The stopgap measure keeps fiscal year 2015 funding in place through Dec. 11. The Senate decisively passed the bill on Sept. 30 in the morning (see 1509300021), and the House followed suit later in the day.
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All House Democrats banded together with 91 Republicans, just over a third of the Republican caucus in that chamber, to pass the bill 277-151. Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio said in a statement none of the funds authorized in the stopgap will reach Planned Parenthood, a controversial subject after secretly recorded videos of the public health group surfaced over recent months. Senate Democrats blocked an attempt to bar Planned Parenthood funding in recent days, leading Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to hold a vote on the clean stopgap (see 1509280045).
The Obama administration praised congressional passage of the stopgap in a Sept. 30 statement, but cautioned that funding negotiations will continue through mid-December. “The American people deserve far better than last-minute, short-term legislating,” said Obama. “That’s why Congress should pass a budget that reverses harmful spending cuts known as sequestration to allow for critical investments in our military readiness, infrastructure, schools, public health, and [research and development] that keep our companies on the cutting edge. Congress can and should get this work done without delay.” Government agencies released contingency plans for a potential shutdown in recent days (see 1509280017).