Democrats to propose bill to fund US government, prevent shutdown

Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives are moving to propose yet another legislation to fund the United States government in order to prevent a shutdown before Friday night deadline.

Rosa DeLauro, the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, announced early Thursday that Democrats will be proposing the resolution to keep the government funded till February 18.

Also Read: US debt default date may extend to December 15: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

Even though no solid schedule has been revealed about the consideration of the bill, the House is expected to take it up on Thursday, according to reports from NBC News.

However, the reception of the upcoming legislation may not be taken well by Republican lawmakers in the United States House of Representatives and the Senate. Several GOP members have said they would challenge the spending bill due to Joe Biden’s COVID-19 mandates.

DeLauro, a member of the Democratic party and a lawmaker from Connecticut said in a statement, “The end date is February 18. While I wish it were earlier, this agreement allows the appropriations process to move forward toward a final funding agreement which addresses the needs of the American people”, according to reports from Associated Press.

Also Read: Mitch McConnell vows not to aid Democrats in raising the debt ceiling again

If the House approves the measure, as expected, the bill would then be considered by the Senate for passage ahead of a midnight Friday deadline. But conservative Republicans opposed to Biden’s vaccine rules want Congress to take a hardline stand against the mandated shots, even if it means shutting down federal offices over the weekend.

Political backlash over the Biden administration’s coronavirus vaccine mandates has been building for months. The White House sees the vaccinations as the quickest way to end the pandemic that has claimed more than 780,000 deaths in the United States Wednesday sparked fresh fears, with the country’s first detected case of a troubling new variant.