By Frank Thorp V, Rebecca Kaplan and Sahil Kapur -
NBC News
Congress is scheduled to vote this Thursday on a bill that seeks to avoid a partial government shutdown as soon as this weekend and secure federal funds until March 1 and 8.
The Democratic-led Senate will vote first this afternoon, after making some amendments to the legislation.
The bill will then go to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which hopes to approve it late Thursday and send it to President Joe Biden's office
before the government closes at midnight on Friday.
It is the third interim funding bill since September, as the divided Congress continues to struggle to reach an agreement on legislation to keep the government funded year-round.
A recent agreement between Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on the new year's budget has renewed hope for a final deal before the there will be a threat of closure again at the beginning of March.
But a firmer agreement is not guaranteed, since the most radical Republicans in the House of Representatives are rebelling against such a pact.
Tense negotiations that have already caused the expulsion of a president of the Lower House
The first interim bill led to the dismissal of then-
House
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
His successor, Johnson, is trying to avoid the same fate.
Schumer lashed out at what he called the “loud contingent of hard-right agitators who think a (government) shutdown is a good thing.”
“In the twisted logic of the hard right, the theory is that if enough people feel the pinch of a shutdown, the hard right can intimidate the rest of Congress into enacting their deeply unpopular agenda,” Schumer bluntly said on the Senate floor. on Thursday morning.
“Bullying, intimidation, chaos.
“This is MAGA extremism (referring to Donald Trump supporters) in a nutshell,” he added.
Around the same time, the House announced it would cancel Friday's votes in anticipation of a new winter storm and complete votes on the stopgap bill on Thursday.
The process is scheduled to be put on “suspension,” which will allow leaders to legislate on a fast-track basis, but requires a two-thirds majority to pass.
The bill would extend the government's funding deadlines in two stages, from January 19 to March 1, and from February 2 to March 8.
This bill has nothing to do with negotiations over another immigration and national security bill that would provide more aid to Ukraine and Israel.
The goal of the current bill to keep the government open through March is to give lawmakers more time to craft the 12 projects that will fund the government throughout the year with a stronger agreement on new spending levels.
“We need a little more time on the calendar to allow the process to develop,” Johnson explained to the media, stating that he is “very hopeful” that Congress can approve the 12 measures.
“We'll see how it goes,” he added.