Congressional leaders have given no indication they are in active negotiations on a long-term budget deal that would avert another round of sequestration. And there is little time left in the federal fiscal year to begin and conclude this type of deal with only eight scheduled legislative days between now and October 1st.
And between the Jewish holidays, the papal visit, and ongoing debate on the Iran nuclear deal, very little time remains for GOP leadership to build enough support to get continuing resolution (CR) approved by the House and sent it to the Senate. Congress must move some sort of appropriations bill before October 1st in order to avoid a politically embarrassing government shutdown. If Republicans want to adhere to their self-imposed three-day rule for considering legislation and vote on the stopgap next week, they would need to publicly post the text by Wednesday, when the House returns from a long Rosh Hashanah holiday weekend. So far, there are few details about the possible contents of the CR and its duration. Most importantly, it still is unclear whether GOP leaders will include a Planned Parenthood-related rider or language related to other issues, such as the nuclear deal with Iran.
Ultimately, we will likely see a CR approved just in time to avoid a government shutdown and then Congressional leaders will use the next couple of months to hammer out a deal on FY2016 appropriations. If they can’t come to agreement to lift the budget caps, we might see a strategy emerge to advance a year-long CR that maintains the status quo for federal spending and doesn’t trigger sequestration.