doing everything they can to hang onto their majority in the upper chamber and regain control of the House.


Keeping Government Open With this as the backdrop, and only 13 legislative days in


September before Congress breaks for the elections, what can


we expect to see? Not much more than the passage of legislation to keep the government open!  had to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) before then to avoid a government shutdown. At the time of the writing of this article, there was a split among Republicans over both the length of a continuing resolution and whether to attach other GOP priorities to the legislation before passage. Democrats were mostly united behind a short-term stopgap bill lasting into the lame duck and had the votes in the Senate to block any broader deal, hoping that they can blame Republicans for veering toward a shutdown a month before the elections. The House Freedom Caucus has called for a CR that would


stretch into early next year “to avoid a lame duck omnibus that preserves Democrat spending and policies well into the next administration.” They expect to see ex-President Donald Trump 


spending priorities. The bottom line: When Congress returns, lawmakers


must address funding the government and consider addressing four major funding/policy matters before leaving town for the campaign trail.


1. Emergency aid to the CR for states hit by natural disasters  


2. $4 billion in emergency funds to respond to the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge;


3. Funding for an almost $15 billion shortfall at the Department of Veterans Affairs by September 20th to avoid 


4. Conservative’s demands to attach legislation requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. They argue that although undocumented immigrants by law cannot vote in  federal elections, some jurisdictions allow them to do so for





citizens vote in any elections in November. We believe that despite conservative resistance to a


short-term CR, Congress will avoid a shutdown and pass as clean a CR as possible and that the CR will last just past the November elections. History has shown that shutdowns do not 


political backlash that hurts the GOP’s chances of maintaining or building upon their majority in the House. 


John Ariale, Gregg Hartley, William Fox and Lynn Jacquez are part of OABA’s Government Relations Team in Washington, DC. Husch Blackwell Strategies represents OABA before Congress and the Administration.


OABA ShowTime Magazine • OCTOBER 2024


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