Government shutdown averted ... again

摘要

On September 29, in what has become a familiar drama (NN, Nov. 2015, p. 42; Dec. 2015, p. 26; and Jan. 2016, p. 33), President Obama signed a stopgap spending bill into law to keep the federal government operating. The Continuing Appropriations and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017 (H.R. 5325), funds government operations at their current rate through December 9-ten weeks past the end of the 2016 fiscal year on September 30. H.R. 5325 also includes the full FY 2017 military construction and veterans affairs appropriations bill, as well as $1.1 billion to combat the Zika virus, $500 million to help states recover from recent floods, and $37 million to fight the U.S. opioid epidemic. Eleven other appropriations bills, however, including those that fund federal science agencies, will have to wait until Congress returns from its fall recess the week of November 14. At that time, lawmakers will have three weeks to pass those appropriations bills-most likely in the form of a single omnibus bill or a series of "minibuses"-or an additional short-term measure, to avoid another government shutdown.