Lawmakers are expected to vote on a bill to keep the government afloat on Thursday
House Republicans are looking to avert another government shutdown this fall, as an end-of-month deadline to pass a spending bill approaches with memories of last year’s shutdown—and the political damage it did—still fresh.
Fresh off a five-week recess, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) told reporters Tuesday that the chamber will introduce a short-term bill to keep the government funded, setting up a vote on the floor for Thursday. The measure is expected to run through the November midterm elections and into mid-December.
Republicans are still ironing out a few things, including how to reauthorize the Export-Import bank—which provides loans, loan guarantees and credit insurance to help foreigners purchase U.S. goods—before its charter expires Sept. 30. Some conservative lawmakers loathe the bank as government intervention in the market. But House Speaker John Boehner indicated Tuesday that reauthorizing Ex-Im will not pose a problem, and said that House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, a fierce opponent of the bank, understands that “a temporary extension of the Export-Import bank is in order.”
“Ex-Im is not the biggest issue this nation faces today,” said Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas). “It is an agency, which in principle I do not support, but it is not worth having a big fight today. The American people don’t want us to imperil the stability of the federal government today over Ex-Im.”