This week: Congress races shutdown clock amid Ukraine crisis

Lawmakers are racing to finalize and pass a massive government funding bill that would also greenlight billions in new aid tied to Ukraine.

Congress has to pass a sweeping bill, which would fund the government through the end of September, and President Biden has to sign it before the end of Friday in order to prevent a government shutdown.

Lawmakers and aides have also questioned if they could need a short-term continuing resolution (CR), which would fund the government at current levels, to buy themselves more time as they wrap up the sweeping bill.
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“We’d have to make great strides between now and say Monday, Tuesday at the latest, to do this,” Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said late last week about how to avoid CR.

The government funding bill is tied to the status of roughly $10 billion in aid in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine because lawmakers are expected to attach the money to the larger legislation to help speed up its path through Congress and to Biden’s desk.

“The Biden Administration has requested $10 billion in humanitarian, military and economic support for Ukraine. The Congress intends to enact this emergency funding this week as part of our omnibus government funding legislation,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wrote in a “Dear Colleague” letter on Sunday night.

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