With less than three weeks to go before the current continuing resolution runs out, President Donald Trump has so far refused to pledge to sign a new agreement to prevent a potential government shutdown.
Speaking to reporters Sunday, Trump said his commitment is contingent upon the deal that lawmakers work out.
“I wouldn’t commit to anything. It depends on what the negotiation is,” he said on the White House’s South Lawn upon his return from New York.
Senior Democratic and Republican leaders continue work to hash out a fiscal 2020 budget agreement that could reach consensus in both the House and Senate, but officials and sources on Capitol Hill have repeatedly said that a successful deal would require the White House’s approval to move forward.
Lawmakers approved a continuing resolution through Nov. 21 to make progress on a deal. The Senate passed several non-defense and homeland security-related fiscal 2020 appropriations deals last week, while a second attempt to pass the defense and energy and water bills failed. Leaders including Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, have sounded warning calls that a full-year continuing resolution may yet occur.
House minority leaders including Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), ranking member of the House Budget Committee, similarly sounded the alarm in a joint press release Nov. 4.
“We are facing global threats to our interests and our allies. Our highest priority should be keeping the government functioning and the Defense Department fully funded,” Granger said in the statement. “We cannot afford to short-change our troops or create unnecessary uncertainty for the Department of Defense.”
At the Department of Energy, the Office of Environmental Management would be funded at an annualized rate of $7.2 billion under one or more continuing resolutions. The department requested $6.5 billion for the nuclear cleanup office for the budget year that began Oct. 1, well below the $7.2 billion approved in June by the House and the $7.5 billion approved in September by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The current continuing resolution gives DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration the annualized equivalent of roughly $15 billion: well below the agency’s 2020 request of $16.5 billion, the $16 billion recommended by the House for 2020, or the $17 billion the Senate’s DOE spending bill would provide.
