WASHINGTON — House Democrats’ current two-seat majority — and Republicans’ narrow edge they will claim in January — is casting a shadow over fiscal 2023 omnibus negotiations as next Friday’s deadline to reach an agreement nears.
Negotiations have slowed as Republicans and Democrats remain billions of dollars apart on the level of nondefense spending, even as current stopgap appropriations lapse Dec. 16. The dispute is likely to bleed over into the week of Christmas, if not beyond, but right now the basic question of simply keeping the government’s lights on is unanswered.
If there’s nothing that would extend the Dec. 16 date on President Joe Biden’s desk by 12 a.m. next Saturday morning — and no sign of imminent action by Congress — the administration will have no choice but to tell more than 800,000 federal workers to stay home starting Monday. Millions more civilian employees and military servicemembers and reservists, deemed critical for the protection of life and property, will have to report to work without pay, until the shutdown ends.
