Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress stepped up their efforts to pass a temporary extension in funding government operations and avert a shutdown, scheduling a vote on the measure for later today.
For months, the Republican-controlled Congress has been struggling to fund the government, which is now operating on its third temporary funding extension since the 2018 fiscal year began on October 1.
Democrats insist that a long-term spending bill cover “Dreamers,” illegal immigrants brought to the country as children, who were protected from deportation by former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Republican President Donald Trump ordered DACA to end in March and asked Congress to come up with a legislative fix. But bipartisan congressional negotiations with the White House faltered last week, prompting Republican leaders to begin pushing for the passage of a stopgap measure to fund the government through February16.
The White House said yesterday it supported the passage of a short-term funding measure and that immigration talks could resume next week.
According to Reuters, House Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement that a vote on the bill is expected to come after 2:30pm.
