Government Shutdown: One-Week Spending Bill Possible, Workers Brace

WASHINGTON, DC —Lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have until midnight Friday to pass a short-term funding bill to avoid a partial government shutdown and give negotiators more time to work on a long-term spending bill.

On Friday, federal workers were reminded of plans and procedures for a shutdown, CNN reported. Those plans include specifics on how many employees would get furloughed, which employees are essential and would work without pay (for example, air traffic controllers, Secret Service agents, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention laboratory staff), how long it would take to wind down operations in the hours before a shutdown, and which activities would come to a halt.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday said senators should be prepared to take action this week on a stopgap funding bill known as a continuing resolution, or CR for short, according to CNN.

"Members should be prepared to take quick action on a CR, a one-week CR, so we can give appropriators more time to finish a full funding bill before the holidays,” Schumer said Monday.

Bipartisan talks on the spending bill appeared to stall last week as both parties disagree on how much should be allocated for non-defense spending in the next fiscal year. Republicans have argued that Democrats were already able to secure money for an array of health care and environmental priorities through previous party-line votes.

Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama said last week the two parties are about $25 billion apart on non-defense, domestic spending in what is expected to be about a $1.65 trillion package.

Another conflict involves veterans funding and whether it should be considered as nondefense discretionary spending, according to a report by The Hill.

“The more we do for our veterans, which we should do, they want to take it out of other needs that we have for our judiciary, for our housing, for education, for food, for transportation, for energy,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during a press conference, The Hill reported.

Schumer described weekend talks over a funding package as "positive and productive conversations, enough that both sides are moving forward to reach a deal, even if it's not going to be everything both sides want."

A vote to fund the government for one week gives negotiators more time by pushing back the deadline to pass a full spending bill to Dec. 23. The new deadline also gives lawmakers more incentive to compromise as they face the possibility of being in Washington for the holidays.

Most recently, the federal government shut down for 35 days, a record length, from December 2018 to January 2019 amid a stalemate over funding for then-President Donald Trump’s border wall, CNN said.

The government also shut down for three days over deadlock during the Trump administration in January 2018. And in 2013, then-President Barack Obama oversaw a 16-day partial government shutdown caused by a dispute over the Affordable Care Act.

As negotiations continue, the federal government released guidance to workers who could be affected by agency closings.

“One week prior to the expiration of appropriations bills, regardless of whether the enactment of appropriations appears imminent, OMB will communicate with agency senior officials to remind agencies of their responsibilities to review and update orderly shutdown plans, and will share a draft communication template to notify employees of the status of appropriations," a document obtained by CNN from the Office of Management and Budget said.

Guidance was sent out last Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.