CR discussions veer toward December: Shelby

A stopgap measure to prevent a government shutdown is likely to last only a few weeks, according to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).

“I hear that it’d be sometime in December,” Shelby said.

Shelby, who had previously floated a three- to four-month continuing resolution, or stopgap funding measure, said a December end-date was being discussed in meetings with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

{mosads}In the House, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has also pushed for a mid-December deadline to advance spending bills, though House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) has also pushed for a longer horizon.

The House and Senate have yet to agree on any of the 12 annual spending bills for the 2020 fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1. President Trump’s proposed border wall is at the heart of the disagreements.

The current continuing resolution expires Nov. 21.

Shelby said that he is hoping that President Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will be able to meet and work out their differences. The last meeting between the two was brief and tumultuous, ending when Trump hurled insults at Pelosi over her decision to support an impeachment inquiry.

“I think if they come together again we’ll move our bills. If we don’t we’re going to be drifting,” Shelby said.

He also said that he did not believe there was a serious chance of a shutdown happening, either in November or in December.

“I believe it’s zero,” he said. “I hope so.”