House passes spending bill to keep government running

The House of Representatives passed a short-term bill today to keep the government running through November 18, 2011. The bill buys time for congressional negotiators to work out a compromise that they hope would fund the government through the 2012 fiscal year and avert another possible government shutdown.

The bill, known as a Continuing Resolution, passed the Democratic-led Senate last week. It will keep the government funded at $1.043 trillion levels and includes $2.65 billion in disaster aid for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to distribute to states hit by a record number of disasters this year, including Hurricane Irene, wildfires in Texas and the tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri in May.

Those disaster funds were the cause of the latest brinksmanship between the House and Senate, with House Republicans wanting the cost offset with spending cuts to a government loan program for auto companies to upgrade factories and invest in clean technology. The Senate wanted a higher level of funding at nearly $7 billion and did not want to offset the cost.

The agreement was reached only after the House passed its bill and left town for a congressional recess and the Senate passed a compromise bill with less disaster funding, but no offsets. The House was able to pass a short bridge by unanimous consent last Thursday with just three members in the chamber, so the House could pass the compromise today when all members are back in Washington.

Funding government through the rest of the year will be a monumental task for congressional appropriators, given the difficulty the two chambers have had working with each other on past spending bills and the debt limit increase.

When asked yesterday if the House would pass another continuing resolution to buy lawmakers more time, Majority Leader Eric Cantor said, "I certainly hope not."

Congressional leaders would rather pass what's known as an "omnibus" appropriations bill that would bundle spending for all federal departments into one bill. This option, or at least a partial bundling of spending bills known as a "minibus," would be ideal given there is less than three months left before the end of the calendar year and the congressional schedule will be tight -- they also have to take up the "super committee" recommendations for deficit reductions by December 23 if that committee is able to reach an agreement to find at least $1.2 trillion in budget savings.