Even if Speaker Kevin McCarthy is able to somehow scrounge up the votes to pass a partisan stopgap funding measure in the House this week, it could take a miracle to avoid a partial government shutdown next month.
Democrats controlling the Senate have no interest in the 30-day continuing resolution House Republicans unveiled Sunday night, which cuts most domestic agencies by more than 8 percent and would impose a range of border-related restrictions that President Joe Biden has already threatened to veto.
But the Senate itself is tied in knots over appropriations, with a $279 billion, three-bill fiscal 2024 spending package stymied by procedural objections to considering more than just the base bill for the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction projects.
