Democrats in Congress hope to finalize a government funding bill before the next president takes office in January.
According to The Atlantic, Congress could appropriate money for the whole fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, preventing a government shutdown threat in 2017. Democrats, expecting Hillary Clinton to win the White House in November, want the matter settled by December. Conservative Republicans, looking to prevent a lame-duck decision, want to delay a full-year agreement until after President Barack Obama has left office in 2017.
"Policies that come through in a lame-duck are typically not conservative or good," Dan Holler, a Heritage Action spokesman, told the magazine. Last year, GOP House leaders passed a bill as part of an agreement with the Democrats which was not well-received by many conservatives.
But Democrats are standing their ground.
"We are not doing anything into next year. The Republicans should be made aware of that right now," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid told reporters last week. He also mentioned that he and Obama had agreed on this.
Both parties have faced criticism for their failure to pass a measure that would provide $1.1 billion for fighting the Zika virus. Democrats oppose restrictions on funding for Planned Parenthood in the Zika measure, and hope that Republicans will blink first.
According to Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the $222 million initially received to fight the contagious disease is almost gone.
"The cupboard is bare," he told reporters, The New York Times reports. Frieden warned that this could be the end for critical programs such as building a mosquito control agency in Puerto Rico, the point of origin of most U.S. Zika cases. "We are not able to get a good running start on it."
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