Biden Signs Continuing Resolution Keeping Government Running Through Dec. 16

September 30, 2022 8:37 PM

President Joe Biden on Friday signed a stopgap funding bill into law, preventing a government shutdown on the last day of the fiscal year.
The continuing resolution keeps the government funded through Dec. 16, giving lawmakers more time to pass Fiscal Year 2023 funding bills, including the annual defense appropriations legislation.

The House passed the measure on Friday after the Senate passed the CR on Thursday.

Both chambers are in recess until after Election Day, meaning both the FY 2023 defense spending and policy bills will not pass until November at the earliest.

“As the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I am committed to completing the work of the Committee before the end of this Congress. Running on autopilot after December with rising inflation would be irresponsible,” Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement. “It would leave priorities – of both Republicans and Democrats – underfunded and under resourced. The federal government funds programs that the American people rely on, and we should do the job they sent us here to do.”

Under a CR, the Pentagon cannot spend money on new-start programs and its funding is limited to the prior fiscal year’s levels.

While the Senate Appropriations Committee in its mark of the FY 2023 spending bill sought to increase the defense topline $30 billion over the Biden administration’s request, the House Appropriations Committee met the Biden administration’s request for $762 billion.

The committees will need to work out the differences during the conference process.

Mallory Shelbourne

Mallory Shelbourne

Mallory Shelbourne is a reporter for USNI News. She previously covered the Navy for Inside Defense and reported on politics for The Hill.
Follow @MalShelbourne

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