U.S. House passes short-term bill to avoid gov't shutdown

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a short-term bill to extend federal government funding until March 11 to avoid a government shutdown.

The House voted 272-162 to pass the bill, known as the continuing resolution (CR), to give lawmakers more time to strike a deal to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year 2022.

"The continuing resolution passed by the House today reflects our Majority's determination to ensure that the work of government is not disrupted by a shutdown," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said in a statement after the vote.

"This resolution is premised on an understanding that the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are close to an agreement on the parameters for an omnibus funding package that will be ready for the House Floor no later than March 8 so that it can be signed by President (Joe) Biden before this new March 11 deadline," Hoyer said.

Now the CR heads to the Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the chamber will "take it up quickly and in time" before the current government funding measure runs out on Feb. 18.

"This CR provides a little more time to reach a deal for a spending package; it is the responsible and prudent path forward that eliminates the risk of a shutdown," Schumer said Tuesday on the Senate floor.

This is the third time Congress has passed a short-term bill to keep the federal government running since the fiscal year 2022 began on Oct. 1, last year.

Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said that the U.S. budget process is "clearly broken" and lawmakers are still operating the government on stop-gap measures.

"There shouldn't need to be a third CR, or a second, or a first. The basic task of governing is budgeting, and yet again lawmakers have found themselves unable to get the job done," MacGuineas said Tuesday in a statement.

Noting that the national debt heads towards a new record high as a share of the economy in the next decade, MacGuineas said it's time to "target and prioritize spending rather than enacting blanket increases."

"Lawmakers should come together to put our country on more sound fiscal footing. That starts by restoring discretionary spending caps at reasonable and responsible levels, which will both improve fiscal discipline and support a smoother and faster appropriations process," she said.

The U.S. total public debt outstanding exceeded 30 trillion U.S. dollars earlier this year, which included 23.5 trillion dollars in debt held by the public and 6.5 trillion dollars in intergovernmental holdings, according to the Treasury Department.