Lawmakers weren’t panicking yet, but Congress was scrambling Thursday to strike a bipartisan deal to avert a government shutdown before funding runs out Friday night.
Senate leaders said they expected to hold a vote later Thursday on the stopgap funding measure — called a continuing resolution, or CR— which would allow lawmakers to leave Washington for the weeklong Presidents Day recess.
About a dozen of those senators were eager to depart for the Munich security conference, which kicks off Friday, amid escalating Russian aggression toward Ukraine. And senators have made clear that a disruptive shutdown at home would not look good ahead of what U.S. officials have called an “imminent” Russian invasion.
Last week, the House passed the funding bill that keeps the government’s lights on through March 11. But for senators to pass it by Thursday, they will need cooperation from every single member. As of early Thursday afternoon, there still remained a handful of outstanding issues.
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