Government affairs

Legislative Updates

House passes CR to fund government through November 21

The House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution (CR) today to provide temporary funding for the government until November 21, 2019 while negotiations around long-term appropriations for fiscal year 2020 (FY2020) continue. The 301-123 tally saw strong bipartisan support, which is good news as the Senate is expected to take up the CR and pass it next week.

As letter carriers are aware, finalizing appropriations are always difficult for Congress. The House has passed ten of twelve appropriations bills, while the Senate didn't start work on its own bills until last week. Partisan disagreements have held the Senate back from passing any of their legislation, but Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) have reportedly discussed packaging less controversial measures to move the process in a substantive way.

The November 21 short-term spending deal means final funding for FY2020 will be pushed back to late November at the earliest, at which point lawmakers will be anxious to make deals lest they eat into their December holiday recess (at best) or cause yet another shutdown (at worst).

NALC will continue to monitor the appropriations process and will be sure to keep letter carriers up to date on the latest movement and changes made.

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