On Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that a spending bill would help avoid a government shutdown. Officials were expected to finalize a move on Tuesday to pass the legislation to keep the United States government working until December 11.
House Democrats proposed the bill on Monday, which then sparked arguments within the GOP-controlled Senate. Tension within the Senate has increased after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced he would quickly move to fill the vacant seat in the Supreme Court after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Baden Ginsburg.
Government shutdown
According to the Wall Street Journal, the spending bill will help avert a disastrous government shutdown amid a surge of infectious diseases and natural disasters. Pelosi said the short-term bill would give politicians enough time to discuss bipartisan legislation that would provide a full fiscal year's funding to the government.
Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin agreed to pass the temporary legislation to prevent a political disaster in early September. However, the bill became controversial on Monday when Democrats denied the proposal to include aid to farmers within the law.
McConnell criticized the bill's lack of funding aid for farmers and did not disclose whether Senate Republicans would vote to deny the legislation.
In a social media post, McConnell wrote that House Democrats shamefully left out farmers' aid from the government spending bill, which American farmers desperately needed amid the coronavirus pandemic. He added the situation was only made worse with the defunding of the workers.
Pat Roberts, the Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman, said the farm aid was something that farmer across the United States needed but noted that the government would not be shut down because of the dispute.
On Monday, Senate Republicans appeared to be closing in on how to proceed with the legislation regarding how close the funding deadline is. Alabama Senator Richard Shelby said he had plans to discuss the bill with leaders and see how conversations work out, as reported by The New York Times.
Removal of financial support
The farmers' aid would have included tens of billions of financial assistance to farmers, which was a critical provision that Trump's administration requested.
Democrats denied the aid arguing that President Trump could use the blank check in his political campaign.
According to Forbes, Democrats hoped to have $2 billion in funds to assist families with children going to school to buy necessities such as groceries amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. However, officials agreed to remove that provision from the legislation and the farmers' aid to more quickly reach a consensus.
While the talks are flowing smoothly, removing the financial supports could stir a clash within the Senate. On Sunday, Pelosi said that she would do everything she can to avoid a government shutdown. She added she would not take advantage of the spending bill as leverage in deciding the nominee for the Supreme Court seat.
It would not be the first the government has shut down in the United States if politicians disagree on the legislation. In 2019, President Trump forced a partial government shutdown that lasted for 35 days in an attempt to acquire over $5 billion in funding for his planned border wall between the United States and Mexico.
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