Government funding crisis looms as Congress faces October 1 deadline

It was mid-July. And the House of Representatives was already done for the summer. 

That’s right around the same time Halloween decorations like gigantic yard skeletons and Reese’s peanut butter and chocolate pumpkins began materializing in stores.

Those weren’t phantasms. Halloween is the next big consumer holiday on the calendar.

I mean, what would you buy to decorate for Labor Day? 

But there’s a spooky alignment between July and Halloween when it comes to Congress. If you begin to see Halloween paraphernalia in July, that’s practically October in Capitol Hill terms. The reason? Congress didn’t finish its annual spending bills before the annual August recess and that means it will be a sprint to finish them by October 1, the deadline to avoid a government shutdown.

GRIDLOCK CRUMBLES AS SENATE ADVANCES SPENDING BILLS IN RACE AGAINST SHUTDOWN

Right around the same time that the rest of the nation starts thinking about ghosts and goblins for Halloween. 

The funding deadline is enough to convert the U.S. Capitol into a chamber of horrors for the entire month of September. Congress is always dragging to complete spending measures in July. Then August comes and concerns about the spending bills vanish like a ghost. Then the appropriations bills rise like mummies out of their coffins when Congress comes back in September. The battle over averting a government shutdown is like a vampire. It sucks most other legislative activity out of Congress until there’s a deal. That’s because most Members want no part of a government shutdown. Lawmakers from both sides know that government funding is one of the most important inflection points on the political calendar.

Let’s examine where we stand with government funding. 

Congress approved a stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown in March. That interim spending package funded the government through September 30, the end of the federal fiscal year. The House approved the bill. But lawmakers worried about a potential government shutdown because breaking a filibuster on the measure required 60 votes. That entailed support of some Democrats since Republicans only have 53 votes in the Senate.