Sept. 22 (UPI) — Washington lawmakers reached a spending plan Sunday that will keep the government operating through December, avoiding a looming shutdown.
House Speaker Mike Johnson , R-La., announced the “bare bones” continuing resolution that includes “only the extensions that are absolutely necessary” to keep federal agencies funded and, if passed would stave off a government stoppage on Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year.
This move would allow lawmakers to push a decision on future spending until after the November election.
“While this is not the solution any of us prefer, it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances,” Johnson wrote in a letter to his colleagues. “As history has taught and current polling affirms, shutting the government down less than 40 days from a fateful election would be an act of political malpractice.”…