WASHINGTON (Fwrd Axis) — The White House has started the process of informing government agencies to prepare for the possibility of a government shutdown unless a stopgap bill is not signed into law by Sept. 30.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday during a press briefing that the process is just routine and the administration is taking this route in preparation for any event that may happen.
“We are taking every step we can to mitigate the impacts of a potential shutdown,” she said. “It’s just a reminder we’re seven days out and we need to be prepared, of course, in any event of any contingency, so we see this as a routine step and one just to be prepared in any event of what could happen.”
Congress is racing against the clock to meet multiple deadlines, including a funding bill to avert the shutdown. Democrats are looking to pass President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill while completing a sweeping $3.5 trillion package for social spending.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday congressional Democrats and the White House reached an agreement framework for the revenue for their $3.5 trillion package but did not provide any details.
“The White House, the House, and the Senate have reached agreement on a framework that will pay for any final negotiated agreement,” Schumer said. “So the revenue side of this we have an agreement.”
Schumer’s announcement comes just one day after Biden met with congressional Democrats from different wings of the Democratic caucus at the White House.
“We have a consensus overwhelmingly, maybe 10 to 1, 20 to 1 within our caucus as to these priorities, but we wanted to make sure it was paid for,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday.
Progressive Democrats have threatened to vote against the infrastructure bill, which passed through the Senate last month, unless the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package passes first. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) has said earlier this week that Democrats will vote the infrastructure bill down in the House unless the reconciliation package passes the Senate first.
