White House prepared to support December CR

The White House is open to supporting a short-term spending patch that would keep the government open until Dec. 20.

Eric Ueland, the White House director of legislative affairs, told reporters that the White House would support the spending bill as long as it didn’t block “any ability of the president’s to pursue his policies.” 

{mosads}Asked about an end date of Dec. 20 for the next continuing resolution, Ueland added that they were “prepared to be supportive,” but hadn’t yet seen the final language of the CR.

The government is currently funded through Nov. 21. To prevent a shutdown, lawmakers will either need to pass another CR or the 12 fiscal 2020 appropriations bills.

The Senate has passed four of the 12 bills, while the House has passed 10. They’ve reached a final agreement on none of the 12 bills amid a disagreement over top-line spending figures known as 302(b)s.

House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) told reporters after a meeting with Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) that the end date for the next CR was expected to be Dec. 20.