Government shutdown is 2 weeks away. No deal in sight.

Congress is back to square one on government spending after Speaker Mike Johnson pulled a dead on arrival bill that would have kept the government open for six months, but also included non-spending related measures that Democrats found unacceptable. 

Without action, the government will shutdown October 1. 

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-TN yesterday: “We’re just foregoing our duty, our sworn constitutional duty, really is one thing is passed. It is to pass a budget, and we haven’t done it 30 years.” 

Here are the key disagreements preventing a deal. 

Lawmakers have not agreed on how long a continuing resolution should last. A continuing resolution, or CR, temporarily keeps the government open at current levels while lawmakers work on a deal for the full fiscal year. 

Speaker Johnson wanted a six month extension which would mean the next Congress and next President would handle it. Democrats want a three month extension, which would require the final deal to be approved before the end of this calendar year, during a lame-duck session. 

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.: “We are simply asking traditional Republicans to partner with House Democrats in a bipartisan way to find the common ground necessary to avoid a Donald Trump-inspired, extreme MAGA Republican shutdown.”

Jeffries is trying to brand it a MAGA shutdown because Donald Trump called for one on Truth Social if Republicans don’t get their way. He posted: 

If Republicans in the House, and Senate, don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security, THEY SHOULD, IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, GO FORWARD WITH A CONTINUING RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET. THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO “STUFF” VOTER REGISTRATIONS WITH ILLEGAL ALIENS. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN – CLOSE IT DOWN!!!

Democrats want to keep non-spending related measures out of the bill. Republicans included the Save Act, which would require Americans to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote. 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y.: “When you start tacking on brand new bills, brand new pieces of legislation, onto what already exists. Of course, you’re going to start running into a problem.” 

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-FL: “I would say that we should probably do a CR and then reevaluate in probably January time frame. So I think that that would probably be the best solution, but only with the condition that save act is attached if it’s not no go.”

Luna thinks an omnibus bill is likely later this year. That’s one giant package that contains all spending, rather than breaking them up by subject or category. To get to that, they need a CR this month. 

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-FL: “The speaker’s probably going to have to do what he did last time and the time before that, and what McCarthy did, which is work with the Democrats who the adults in the room to keep the government open.”

The House has just nine work days left and the senate 11 days until government funding expires. On that same day, Congress is scheduled to leave Washington for the entire month of October so they can campaign. I’m Ray Bogan in Washington, for more reporting Straight from our nation’s capital, download the straight arrow news app and turn on notifications.