Rule for Short Term Continuing Resolution

This afternoon’s meeting of the House Rules Committee produced a rule that included provisions for the House to take up the Senate amendments to HR 2250, which is now the vehicle for extending the current rate of government spending until December 16^th. This was done to provide the leadership more time to come up with a deal on an omnibus spending bill for FY 2016.

This morning I mentioned that HJ Res 75 had been introduced for this purpose and would be considered by the Rules Committee this afternoon. What happened in the interim was that the Senate took up the previously passed HR 2250, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2016. Under the unanimous consent process the amended the bill, substituting the same language as found in HJ Res 75 and then approved the revised bill. This way, if the House passes the bill as expected tomorrow, then it would go directly to the President. HJ Res 75 would have had to be passed by the Senate before going to the President, a delay that could have resulted in a technical shutdown of the government for part of Saturday.

The vote on HR 2250 will likely come late tomorrow morning or early in the afternoon.