The key word here is simply. Congress can pass and should pass what is referred to as a “clean” CR, where nothing changes from last year. It’s not ideal, but they’ve already missed the boat on --that’s where they actually move all 12 spending bills through regular order. If they can pass a clean bill, the CR is used simply as a stop gap measure to keep things functioning until they can pass the remaining appropriations bills later this year or until they pass a package of all the appropriations bills, called an omnibus. It’s likely the CR would keep the government running until early December.
Second, members of Congress are basically arm-twisted into supporting the increases or voting against keeping the entire government open. Forcing lawmakers into a corner often leads to their support of bad spending add-ons in order to support the larger bill. It’s also likely that the only members who are rewarded in the cherry-picking are well-positioned and helping out their industry friends.
Time is ticking. If Congress doesn’t act, the feds turn into a pumpkin come October 1st. Instead of mucking up the must-pass Continuing Resolution, Congress should keep it clean. Taxpayers pay the price when Congress can’t get their work done, and a ballooning CR is a bad note for lawmakers to go home on.
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