Top Congressional leaders prepare for votes on a stop-gap spending bill

Congressional leaders have agreed on a short term spending bill to give lawmakers more time to write and pass year-long spending bills. Several agencies and government functions are set to run out of funding at the end of the day on Friday.

The extension will adhere to the current two-tier funding deadline structure that leaders agreed to last year with new deadlines set at March 1 and March 8. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, said the Senate will vote Tuesday on the first procedural steps to pass the bill.

"To avoid a shutdown, it will take bipartisan cooperation in the Senate and the House to quickly pass the CR and send it to the President's desk before Friday's funding deadline," Schumer said in a statement released Sunday. "I thank the leaders from both sides, and particularly the members of the Appropriations Committee, for their commitment to keeping the government open and working for the American people."

Schumer said the legislation is the result of bipartisan negotiations with all four top Congressional leaders.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., touted concessions from Democrats including plans to rescind some unspent COVID relief funds and speed up already planned cuts to the IRS. He also repeated his argument that the end goal is to avoid wholesale extensions of current funding.

"Because the completion deadlines are upon us, a short continuing resolution is required to complete what House Republicans are working hard to achieve: an end to governance by omnibus, meaningful policy wins, and better stewardship of American tax dollars," Johnson said in a statement.

The goal is to allow members of the appropriations committees to work out the details of spending bills that adhere to the $1.6 trillion