On Thursday, U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Alabama) announced that she has joined Senator Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska) and 15 of their Senate colleagues in sending a letter urging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) to keep the U.S. Senate in session until all 12 of the appropriations bills have been debated on the floor and passed.
To this point, Schumer has resisted bringing the appropriations bills to the floor even though they have all passed out of the Appropriations Committee. The federal government narrowly averted a shutdown at the end of the fiscal year last weekend with a 45-day continuing resolution (CR) that will run through November 17.
“We urge you to modify the Senate calendar so that we remain in session Monday through Friday every week until all 12 fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills are passed in the Senate and House and signed into law by President Biden,” the Senators wrote. “The House of Representatives has already taken the step to forgo their October recess, and the Senate must follow suit. While valuable work is done while Senators are back in their home states, it is imperative that we remain in D.C. until our appropriations work can be completed. That is what the American people expect and deserve of us.”
“The continuing resolution extended government funding until November 17,” the Senators continued. “That allows seven weeks for the Senate to consider the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills. The past nine weeks make it clear that we cannot afford to take a weekday off, much less a weeklong recess, with so much work to be completed in such a condensed time.”
“My colleagues and I have worked hard this year to advance all 12 individual appropriations bills out of committee through regular order,” the Senators continued. “However, in order to enact judicious, strategic, transparent, and accountable spending measures that benefit the American people, it’s incumbent on Senator Schumer to utilize a novel concept – actually making the Senate work,” said Senator Britt. “Alabamians know this is simply common sense, but that is unfortunately uncommon in Washington, D.C.”
Joining Senators Britt and Ricketts in sending the letter were Senators Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska), John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri), John Thune (R-South Dakota), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), and Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi).
The 2023 fiscal year ended on September 30, and Congress still has not passed the 2024 budget. If the current 45-day CR runs out without Congress having passed a budget or another CR, then the federal government will have to shut down non-essential services.
Majority Leader Schumer has scheduled the Senate to be in recess until October 16. The Senate was also not in session the entire month of August, even though budgets had not been passed.
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