White House backing passage of stopgap funding measure

The White House announced on Tuesday it supports the passage of the short-term funding measure that would keep the government open until Dec. 20.

The White House said in a Statement of Administration Policy that the measure would keep the government open and “give the Congress more time to complete full-year funding bills later this year that deliver for America’s national defense, veterans, seniors, children, and working families, and address urgent needs for the American people, including for communities recovering from disaster.”

It also noted that while the administration supports language in the bill that protects nutrition assistance for families, it is “deeply disappointed” that the bill doesn’t include funding for some small business services, like a disaster loan program and “necessary funding” for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

It issued a warning in the statement that the Biden administration would oppose any cuts to appropriations for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the final legislation.

The House is expected to vote on a clean, three-month funding extension Wednesday under suspension of the rules, which is a process that bypasses the need to pass a procedural rule and requires significant support from Democrats to reach the two-thirds support threshold needed for passage.

The bill is expected to pass the House, with Democrats support, and head to the Senate ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline to prevent a partial government shutdown.

Turning to suspension, which is a process abhorred by hard-line conservatives, comes after some hardline conservatives had vowed to tank the rule vote, which would have blocked the legislation from advancing the floor. It also follows an attempt by House Republicans last week to pass a partisan funding bill, which failed due to opposition from within their own party.

“So we’ll bring it up under suspension, which is the way I thought we would to begin with,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), the ranking member on the House Rules Committee, said on Monday.

Updated at 1:19 p.m. EST