House republicans abruptly pulled their support for a continuing resolution to provide funding for the government that would run out at the end of the month, raising the possibility of the government shutdown, Roll Call reports.
Unable to come to a compromise with House republicans, Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi negotiated with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on a patchwork bill, coming to an “agreement in principle” last week that would fund the government through the end of the year.
House republicans, however, reportedly balked at the bill, forcing Mnuchin to pull out of negotiations and causing Pelosi to pull the bill from the floor.
Democrats refuse to support a $20 billion provision in the bill, ostensibly to support farmers and agriculture impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Citing a lack of clear spending guidelines for the money, Democrats contend that the money would essentially be a political slush fund for the White House to reward and benefit political allies of the Trump Administration and coerce support from financially-troubled swing state voters.
“At some point in the next day or two we expect that there will be a continuing resolution on the floor that will continue the current spending agreement until December. It’s my hope that that continuing resolution will be bipartisan in nature,” House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries of New York said. “That remains to be seen at the moment.”