President Trump on Friday signed a stopgap funding measure to keep the government running until Nov. 21, an eight-week extension into the new fiscal year that begins early next week.
The legislation, which passed in the House last week and the Senate on Thursday, keeps 2019 funding levels in place while Democrats and Republicans look to hammer out a broader spending deal.
Controversy over Trump’s proposed border wall has stalled new spending bills. While the House passed 10 of the 12 annual measures early in the summer, the Senate, which requires bipartisan support, has not been able to pass a single appropriations bill for the 2020 fiscal year.{mosads}
In recent weeks, the Senate Appropriations Committee succeeded in marking up 10 bills, but several more bills, such as defense and homeland security, received only Republican support.
Democrats opposed providing an additional $5 billion for the wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, and insisted that other bills should block Trump from using emergency powers to reprogram funds.
Trump has reprogrammed upwards of $6 billion from defense, military construction funds and a Treasury asset fund for his proposed wall.
The president was scheduled to meet with Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) about a way forward for the legislation.
Shelby warned on Thursday that without a bipartisan deal on border issues, Congress might be forced to rely on stopgap measures, known as continuing resolutions, for the entire 2020 fiscal year.
That would prevent agencies from embarking on new projects and deny them an agreed-upon, multi-billion dollar boost in spending levels.
The stopgap measure that Trump signed also extended major health programs, flood insurance, authorization for the Export-Import Bank and disaster funds.