McConnell proposes funding the government through early February

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) offered a motion early Saturday morning to amend a House-passed stopgap spending measure so that it would fund the government until Feb. 8.

McConnell said he would try to get a vote on the amended measure Saturday morning but warned he needs to get unanimous consent from the entire Senate to proceed.

“I’ll be offering an amendment to change the date to Feb. 8. We will, unfortunately, not be able to get that vote tonight but I will subsequently ask for a consent,” he said after midnight on Friday.

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McConnell said that would give President Trump and congressional negotiators time to work out a broader deal to fund the government through the rest of fiscal year 2018.

The House still needs to approve the measure and Trump must sign it to end the government shutdown, that technically began Friday night at midnight. 

McConnell offered a “motion to refer” the House-passed stopgap. If it passes as expected, it will allow McConnell to amend the House bill and shorten it from funding the government for four weeks to instead funding the government for three weeks.

A few senators have proposed shorter-term measures to put more pressure on negotiators to come up with a spending deal, but McConnell argued that any less than three weeks would not be enough time.

“You can’t reach an agreement and snap your fingers and everything [falls] into place and you’re ready to go,” he said.