No snow day for the Senate as Congress looks to avert a government shutdown

The snowstorms pummeling much of the country — including D.C. -- will keep the majority of the federal government at home Tuesday, but not the Senate, whose members are expected to brave the weather to cast the first in a series of votes that they hope will stave off a partial government shutdown at week's end.

Though travel delays may prevent many senators from participating in Tuesday night's vote, time is not a luxury this Congress has as the shutdown looms — meaning many will have to lace up their snow boots.

The procedural vote the Senate will take Tuesday night will be on a stopgap funding bill that lawmakers hope will buy them more time to complete work on yearlong appropriations. It comes just three days before funding for four of the 12 bills that fund the government are slated to run out.

Details of the short-term plan were announced jointly by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday.

The short-term bill, if passed, will move the deadlines to fund the government by more than a month: the four funding bills that were set to expire this Friday would run out of funding on March 1; the remaining eight bills currently set to expire on Feb. 2 would run out on March 8.

This stopgap spending bill should have relatively little trouble clearing the Senate, where it's expected to receive bipartisan support. Still, things could potentially come down to the wire in the Senate where passage of bills can require multiple procedural votes and multiple days of work.

Passing the stopgap bill before funding partially runs out on Friday night will require the cooperation of all senators. The objection of any one senator to expediting passage of the bill could cause a final vote to potentially bleed