Airport Alert: House Passes Stopgap Funding Bill, but Threat of a Government Shutdown Remains
September 21, 2021
This evening, the House passed a stopgap bill known as a continuing resolution (CR) that would temporarily fund the federal government through December 3, suspend the debt ceiling and provide supplemental funding for disaster relief. The CR now goes to the Senate, where it faces strong, political headwinds.
The federal budget and appropriations process normally requires both the House and Senate to each pass and reconcile their 12 appropriations bills, and the president to sign them into law, before funding expires at the end of the fiscal year on September 30. However, while the House has passed nine of its spending bills up to this point, the Senate has failed to pass any, meaning Congress must pass a CR to avoid a government shutdown.
On the aviation front, in addition to preventing furloughs and delayed paychecks for employees at FAA and TSA, the CR would extend payments to air carriers to maintain the Essential Air Service program. It also provides $100 million to repair or replace FAA owned buildings and equipment that was damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Ida in order to restore full air traffic navigation and surveillance capabilities.
Complicating matters, though, are projections that the United States will hit the debt ceiling, which is the legal limit on the total amount of federal debt the government can accrue, by mid- to late October. Without congressional action to suspend or increase the debt ceiling, the federal government will default on its outstanding payments, causing dire, economic consequences.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the vast majority of Senate Republicans have been insistent that they will not vote for the CR if the debt ceiling suspension is attached to it. Without support from at least ten Republican Senators, the CR will not have the votes necessary to overcome the 60-vote threshold for a legislative filibuster. Instead, Republicans have suggested that Democrats should pass the debt ceiling suspension on party lines through the ongoing reconciliation process; however, so far, Democratic leadership has rejected this strategy.
The current political standoff is expected to worsen in the coming days as we approach the end of the fiscal year and an impending government shutdown. Although this version of the CR is unlikely to pass the Senate as is, it is possible the Senate will strip the debt ceiling suspension from the CR, pass it, and send the new version back to the House. While this would overt a government shutdown, it would also keep the debt ceiling issue unsettled and leave Congress one less legislative vehicle to attach the debt ceiling to. We will continue to monitor these efforts by Congress to fund the government and will provide updates when further actions are taken.
