Funding Deadline at Risk Despite Shutdown Deal

A short funding lapse and partial government shutdown is now seen as the most likely scenario. (Al Drago/Bloomberg News)

The U.S. federal government is poised for a short shutdown with Congress unlikely to meet a midnight Jan. 30 deadline to clear a spending package through both legislative chambers.

The Senate is expected to vote on a deal to fund the government at some point Jan. 30, according to a Republican aide. But House Speaker Mike Johnson said his chamber is not scheduled to return to Washington until Feb. 2, prompting a lapse in federal funding until the House passes the bill.

The partial government shutdown — which will only affect some federal agencies — is not expected to have widespread effects on government operations if it is resolved by early next week.

Still, the affected agencies — which include the Treasury, Defense, Homeland Security, Transportation, Health and Human Services and Labor Departments — will go through the formal process of shutting down, according to an administration official. If the House passes the funding legislation early Feb. 2, operations may be able to re-open that same day, the official said.

A shutdown at midnight would mark the second time Congress has failed to fund the government during President Donald Trump’s second term. The last spending stand-off was resolved after a 43-day impasse that halted food aid to millions of households, canceled thousands of flights and forced federal workers to go unpaid for more than a month.

Lawmakers predict this spending lapse will be resolved in a matter of days, which would mean few disruptions to travel, government economic data releases and paychecks for federal workers.

Trump and Senate Democrats reached a deal Jan. 29 to fund the government as the White House continues to negotiate with the Democrats on placing new limits on immigration raids that have provoked a national outcry.

The shutdown fight erupted after a U.S. citizen, Alex Pretti, was killed in a confrontation with Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis on Jan. 24. Democrats refused to renew funding for the Homeland Security Department unless new restraints were placed on immigration enforcement.

The deal pending in Congress would fund the Homeland Security Department for two weeks to allow more time for negotiations. The package contains funding for several other government agencies through the end of September.

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Graham

The timing of a Senate vote on the package hit delays late Jan. 29 when Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced he was blocking the bill. Under Senate rules, any senator can hold up the process for days by refusing to agree to advance the legislation.

One of Graham’s criticisms of the bill is that it repeals a law that could result in him receiving court judgments worth millions of dollars.

The House last week unanimously passed a repeal of that provision which allows eight senators to sue the Justice Department over phone meta data seized during the “Arctic Frost” investigation into an attempt to undermine the 2020 presidential election.

Graham has said he plans to seek legal recourse under the law to make a point about the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. House Republicans sponsored the amendment to repeal the provision, saying it is a waste of money and an unfair benefit to the senators who were investigated.

Graham denounced the House effort to repeal the provision in a speech Jan. 30 on the Senate floor and said he would seek a vote on restoring the senators’ right to sue and expand it to provide the same right to people in Trump-aligned groups whose phone records were also subpoenaed in the investigation.

“You jammed me, Speaker Johnson. I won’t forget this,” Graham said. 

The South Carolina senator also demanded a commitment to vote on legislation imposing criminal penalties on state and local officials who follow “sanctuary” policies that restrict local involvement in federal immigration enforcement activities.

A Senate Republican aide said the GOP would discuss Graham’s holdup at a meeting midday Jan. 30 and predicted the Senate would agree to vote on the bill later in the day.