The days before Christmas are often a last-minute scramble for Congress as members work long hours to strike an annual spending deal before heading home for the holidays. But this time, lawmakers are pushing their biggest battles to the new year.
When Congress resumes work on Jan. 8, they’ll have two short weeks to fund transportation, housing, agriculture and energy programs by Jan. 19. Then they’ll have only three additional days with both chambers in session before Feb. 2, when they need to fund all other agencies and avert a government shutdown once again.
However, appropriators in the House and Senate don’t agree on how much they want to spend, gumming up the bicameral work necessary to build and pass a budget.
They’ll also have a fight over funding for Ukraine and the southern border securities policies tied to it. Even as Senate negotiators stay in town to work out a framework deal, divisions remain between both chambers and within the Democratic party that will make additional aid far from guaranteed.
Read more at AOL.com
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