Congress Unveils Short-Term Funding Bill to Avoid End-of-Year Government Shutdown

WASHINGTON—House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Dec. 17 unveiled a bipartisan bill that would keep the government funded until March 14, punting the issue of permanent funding to the incoming 119th Congress in the early days of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.
This bill is known as a continuing resolution, or CR.
Aside from extending the deadline to mid-March, the proposed CR—coming in at 1,547 pages—includes disaster relief in the aftermath of hurricanes in the South, environmental provisions, the Second Chance Reauthorization Act, veterans’ measures, foreign affairs-related legislation, and the Hotel Fees Transparency Act.
The CR also includes restrictions on investments in China and a one-year extension of the farm bill that consists of various initiatives, including food nutrition programs in schools, crop insurance, and disaster assistance. It usually gets extended for five years….